Be Careful In Your Thoughts

Girls,

The more time passes, the crazier our world becomes.  We have politicians spewing hate, preachers committing adultery, and people committing murder in the name of a god.  This world is becoming pretty dark and it is happening pretty fast.

Just a few tips….

First, be careful in your thoughts. Don’t rush to judgement and be careful about how you display your thoughts.  As crazy as this sounds, social media is relatively new and it has given everyone a platform to spread their message (I guess the internet, as a whole, has done this).  I’m not telling you that you should put your courage to the side and play everything safe.  However, I’m telling you to avoid a rush to judgement and put out ignorance for everyone to see.  You, we as a society, should have that responsibility.  After all, ignorance breeds ignorance.  Before you spread a message, make sure you know what that message is conveying.

Secondly, watch the opinions you form about other people.  Not everyone is good, but not everyone who believes differently than you is evil or stupid.  We all have opinions and they are all wrong to someone.  We aren’t always right.  Something that has  helped me over the past few years is that “right” can come in different versions to different people.  What is important is to find the middle ground on right (on most things).  Now, there are certain things where right is right.  As you get older, I pray you learn those things and stand for them.

The last thing I want to warn you about in your thoughts is how you feel about people of different races, cultures, and creed.  There is a lot of discrimination in our society and it is pointed in all directions.  Unfortunately, you will be discriminated against or someone will attempt to take advantage of you because you are a women.  You will have to fight harder because you are a women.  It is what it is.  I’m sorry for that, but it won’t fix it.  Suck it up.  Work harder.  Don’t take crap off of anyone.  Just know this.  Understand that we all have and come from different walks of life.  Each has their own challenge.  I’ve been told that I was allowed to be a principal because I’m a white male.  People are entitled to feel that way.  What people didn’t see what the time I spent on my “off-time” developing lesson plans, the time I spent on Saturdays during the ENTIRE YEAR working to become a better coach, the times during summer when I was off contract and still showed up on Monday mornings to pick up trash in the ditches around the gym because I wanted the school to look better.  You will get what you earn, eventually.  If I get fired, I earned that.  If I make a million dollars, I earned that.  I truly believe that people will not get rid of those doing right and improving things because they are a certain color or sex.  I’ve also been called a dreamer, but that is how I believe.

Know that black people, gay people, women, Muslims, and many other face discrimination.  You shouldn’t get caught up in their color or religion.    As you grow, you will hear people say “Some of the best people I know are black” or you might hear “some of the best people I know are gay.”  Why shouldn’t they be good?  Is it because if they are different than us it is harder for them to be good?  Lindley and Avaleigh, some of the best people I know are people.  Bottom line.  They may not look like me, talk like me, walk like me, wear the same clothes I do, or believe in God the way I do.  They can still be viewed as good people.  However, when they don’t live the lifestyle the Bible says, you should still pray for them and, given the chance, share your thoughts and beliefs with them in a polite, respectful manner.  Learn tolerance.  Learn acceptance.  Learn that it is ok to endorse different political people without being a racist or socialist and that it isn’t ok to get on Facebook (I wonder if that will be around when you get older) and cuss someone for how they believe.  Also, learn if things are being done the way you want, you need to get out and work to change them.  Just be careful in what you work for.

Don’t rush to judgement and don’t buy into stereotypes.  Learn that Christian faith is love and acceptance.  I’m not advocating believing that we all serve the same God, I’m advocating that we should love others as we love Christ and help them understand our version.  I don’t believe that we should discriminate, but we should help those that face discrimination.  People think that I am working at MTHS because it is my home.  It is, but it is also because I want to help all people in my community improve, especially those who face adversity and discrimination.

This is going to be hard, but it is required in life.

I will always love you,

Daddy