An Intimidating Realization

Last night I watched the movie, “The Help”. If you’ve never seen it--I highly recommend watching it. I won’t spoil the ending for anyone, but the movie is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s. The whole “separate but equal” movement is at it‘s peak. A young white writer breaks the mold of those white women around her and decides to write a book from the help’s perspective. Her book ends up turning the town upside down. This movie shows courage, compassion, hope, and what can happen if no one stands up for what’s right. It’s one of those movies that you continue to think about long after it’s over.


So of course it got me thinking. Obviously, whites grew up believing that the black maids in their houses were there to serve them. They observed how their parents treated these black workers on a daily basis. When they came of age they got married and started their own household. In Jackson, Mississippi they hired help. Usually the help came in the form of a black maid and if they had a large household and a lot of land to take care of they might have other black workers as well. Then the cycle began again. Their children would observe how the parents treated the workers.


No one seemed to think that the poor treatment of these workers was wrong. The children just did as they had always seen and heard. Honestly, there isn’t any difference in today’s society. We might not have the race clash that they had in the 60’s, but children still grow up watching how their parents behave. Most of the time children grow up to be just like their parents. Occasionally someone breaks the mold, but more times than not the children live their lives in the same manner as their parents.


As a mother of young children this “realization” kind of threw me for a loop. It’s not like I didn’t know it already, but if you stop and think about it your breath can almost be taken away. There is nothing that will say more about me as a person than how my children are raised. Every single day we have encounters with people, and every single day my kids observe how I treat these people whether they are friends or strangers. My kids also get to observe the things I say about those people when they are gone. Above the treatment of others is how I act as a human being. My kids will know better than anyone else the things that matter most to me and the things that I find important in the world. My kids will know what makes me sad and what cheers me up. My kids will witness my break-downs and my perseverance. My kids will see my most evil side and my most loving side.


The thing I am left with after all these realizations is that I sure have a BIG job ahead of me. As a mother I must live as close to how Christ lived as possible, because at the end of the day the salvation of myself, my husband, and my kids is what this is all about. I MUST live my life like Christ so that my children LEARN to be like Christ to everyone around them. Afterall, our actions really do speak much louder than our words. At the end of my life I hope that my children can say, above all else, I taught them how to be Christ-like and how to love.
　
Don’t forget to count your blessings--especially the little ones!! J