Fathers

The Human Highway

In my mind today, I am thinking about the human highway. It is true that we are all on our journey. Students, have you paid much attention to the conditions of the human highway lately? There are lots of roadblocks and warning signs. Frankly speaking, I see a lot of lost traffic. Why are we born? Why are we even created? Has anyone ever told you? No one told me. I have lived and searched for the reason for my existence. Take heart. I found it!

What’s my purpose? Teaching for twenty years I saw it. The lack of purpose and drive was prevalent. Loss of morals. Apathetic. It was a challenge that I loved. Students, a lot of the teaching today is driven by unfair competition against unbearable odds. Teaching is a craft. Each year is a different challenge. Your teaching is driven by the students’ needs; therefore; the teaching methods need to match the Learners’ Learning preferences and abilities. This is why teaching is a craft. You are a motivator. You are a light to your students. Maybe the only one that they will ever see. Teaching is such an important role. I am ever so proud of my former students who have become teachers. I am praying for our public school system. I pray for solid and sound teaching that our children are literate, strong, and able to discern good from evil.

What if every day of your life you started knowing your purpose in life? This would help tremendously. The human highway has lots of traffic jams. I see so many people that are lost or stuck in the new fast lane, unable to find a purpose for the trouble of this chaos. Let’s do a literature chart discovering the 4 W’s and an H. Who are you? You were created in the image of your creator. What are you? You are part spirit and part animal/human.Your soul is the eternal part that is of God. Where are you? You are on earth. It was created by God. Why are you here? We are here to love God and each other. This is our purpose. Somewhere down the human highway, we forgot to teach our children this first. They are children of God. They should guard their souls: the eternal part that is destined for eternity. How? Simply living a life consecrated to God.

Everyone is unique in the place they are born down the human highway. I know students are born in very hard, destitute situations while some are born very blessed with parents to guide them. Remember that first and foremost you are a child of God. Some have to work harder than others, but we all have a job in God’s Kingdom. The human highway can be cruel. Remember that this life on earth is fleeting. Our goal and purpose are to be the best child of God that we can be. Think if we all understood that we are made to love and to be loved. We are made to love each other and out of the love between a man and a woman a child of God is created. Oh, sweet daughters, please fall back in love with motherhood. Blessed sons, fall in love with your family and bear up for them and provide as the Holy Father does. Children of God, love, honor, and obey your parents. We have lost our way.

I know this sounds otherworldly or mystical, because God is just that: a mystery. We came to be because of the mystery of God. We are all playing a part or riding down the human highway. The race is not an easy one regardless of the station of life you are born into, but remember you are a child of God. Today, we want to identify with our sexual preference, our gender or lack of gender, political affiliation, or one of the many different genres society has invented. The simple fact is you are a child of God which is a human being. The next time you are thinking who am I, what’s my purpose, and why am I here, remember that God created you as His own. The purpose of human beings is to love and care for His children and creation whatever your vocation, or job. You are here on a mission. Do good in all your ways. Use this life for God.

Sarah Anderson Alley

Sal the Child of God Gal

Quotes for the Day:

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others . And if you can’t help them at least don’t hurt them.

Dalai Lama

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” – Margaret Mead

“Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built.” – James Dobson

Dust

Last week the verse “And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” haunted me. I tried to interpret it into my own being. I have this flaw within me that wants to help and give until it becomes unhealthy. I have members of my family and friends that have addiction problems. Sadly, today this is not an exception. Many of you reading this are no stranger to drug addiction and it’s horrible consequences.

Too many children in our society are orphans because of this rampant epidemic. Drugs just hollow out a person. It takes their heart and leaves a selfish, insatiable shell. As a former teacher, I have seen so many children altered by this current epidemic. The neglect is rampant. The emotional abuse cuts so deep. Face it America, our family system is shattered. The children are lost in this shrapnel. The cycle of poverty is growing exponentially. When do we shake the dust from our feet?

I love working with children at our local library. There is a huge building beside it. This building stood for sale a long time. When I would go to the library, I always envisioned a safe house for children. A place they could show up on the doorstep and find immunity from their chaotic lives. A place where they could have a warm meal, a clean bed, and quiet place to read and study away from the drama of the world of addiction. You know going home from school hungry with only dry cereal to live on and no adult there to ask you about your day. Taking care of younger siblings while riffraff comes in and out of your house at all hours. Trying your best to avoid sexual predators. Surviving. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to take children home with me and give them the nurturing and love they deserved. To provide a place for them to thrive and grow and crush the cycle of poverty. The building has been bought and someone is renovating it. Such a dream.

When do we shake the dust and move on from those who continue to choose evil? We give them love, resources, and shelter but are we giving them God? Are we enabling bad choices at the cost of the lives of children? I think we are. These children are feral without any moral and spiritual guidance. Faith without works is empty but don’t you also believe works without faith is just as futile? These things haunt my thoughts. Money, nice clothes, and food don’t remedy the deep rooted issue we are facing. It’s a heart problem. Hearts of children harden by the minute because of this cycle.

Ironically our homily last Sunday was about “Dust.” For two weeks I had rolled the “shaking dust” verse in my mind. The priest had a beautiful message of “dusting” off our spiritual lives. There are ways for us to reach out and help be a “dust mop” to those around us. We need to not be scared to lend a hand and give hugs. Time is short. It helped me realize that although sometimes our love falls on deaf ears we need to shake off the dust and let some go, dust never sleeps. America has layers of dust and I need to move on with my mop to find new areas of need. If we all did our dusting, we could make America shine again.

Sarah Anderson Alley
Sal the Dust Hating Gal

Quote of the Day:

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
Pablo Picasso

Have you ever seen a man that loves to hold infants? The babies that are fresh to the world and just little squirmy, helpless creatures? This is one of the reasons I love my husband so much. He loves holding tiny, helpless babies. It’s just so endearing to watch him.

Birthing each of my children was a traumatic event for me. Once they were here I knew I had to dig deep and survive. The first six weeks was a blur. Don’t get me wrong. I was very grateful and madly in love with my infant children, but the daily life didn’t stop. So the baby had to be incorporated into my busy life. It was tough. Those first weeks of nurturing were a form of sleep-walking. I was so relieved when Ken would step in and cuddle our little ones. He never looked more handsome than when he was holding our babies. What a man.

Babies still enchant our lives. Each family gathering Ken is always holding the newest addition. I watch him in awe. I think how blessed his children are to have such an amazing father. He is really so special. If you ever encounter a man that loves babies then I guarantee he will be a wonderful father. He is a priceless treasure.

Sarah Anderson Alley
Sal the I Love Ken Gal

Dedication:
Happy Father’s Day, Ken. You are one of the best and we love you.

Quotes of the Day:
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.
Jim Valvano

“The most important thing in the world is family and love.”
John Wooden

“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”
William Shakespeare