Expect Goodness

My mother gave me a gift that I have only recently come to appreciate. Her gifts were that she had an unswayable positive outlook on life and that she expected goodness from everyone. She tried to pass both of these traits on to me but I only caught the later.

I try to have a positive outlook but I let things get me down too easily. I do expect goodness from everyone though and I'm genuinely surprised when people behave badly. I know what you're thinking...."She must not get out much!"....but I do. Although, in my old age, I have learned to surround myself with good people.

Today, someone I know well, was ugly to me and my daughter. Since I always expect the best out of people, sometimes I don't even realize what just happened until several minutes later. The full impact of their insult sometimes isn't realized for hours. I think, "They couldn't have meant that. Surely I misunderstood." The more I dwell on it, the more angry I become. Their hate planted a seed in my heart that grew into full blown fury. After much counseling from my husband and good friends and after many, many prayers, the fury subsided and God showed me that the problem isn't me or my daughter, it comes from the person that harbors hate in their heart.

It's upsetting when such occurrences happen to you. It's exponentially upsetting when it happens to your child. I think that is what bothered me the most about the scolding this woman gave Miss G and then ultimately to me.

This woman hates homeschoolers. I have actually heard her rant that anyone who would homeschool their children are "absolute idiots". I believe, at the core, this was the reason for her attack. My daughter, who was not in the public school system as she should be AND who was on the tennis court in the middle of the day, had the audacity to tell her that she was doing wrong. As this lady was exerting herself, she exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh!" In our household, we try really hard not to say that because we feel that gosh is just a slang term for God and we try really hard not to take the Lord's name in vain. Miss G, being shocked at hearing such language, blurted out, "We don't say that! You shouldn't say that." Unfortunately, I was on the next court over and didn't hear this exchange. The woman quickly told Miss G that she didn't say "Oh, my God." and that Miss G was not to tell her what she could or couldn't say. Miss G may not say that in her house but she could and would say that if she wanted to. Needless to say, Miss G was shocked into silence, which is rather hard to do.

I know all this because this woman kindly told me the conversation word for word and then scolded me for having a daughter who would dare to tell an adult what to do. I quietly listened to this woman not knowing quite what to say. The woman kept asking me what we teach in my house about "gosh" and "God" which I knew better than to get into with her. As she continued to rant and since I'm the world's worst debater, the only thing I could think of to say was, "You certainly have the right to say 'Oh, my gosh' if you want." But, I couldn't help think that Miss G also had the right to say what she wanted to. My daughter was standing up for what she believed in. She was standing up for God and for probably the first time, but certainly not the last, she was being persecuted for it.

The maternal side of me feels like I let my daughter down. I wasn't there when she was being scolded for her beliefs. My wise husband said that Miss G will have to face those kinds of people all her life and that we should be proud that she stood up for what she believed in.

Will I still expect good from people? Yes, I will. Will Miss G? I believe so. Although Miss G isn't biologically related to my mother, she caught both her optimistic outlook and her expectation of good. Miss G has a zest for life that can't be squelched by a woman whose heart is full of hate. I do believe that this woman has done some good. Miss G has survived her first defense of our Lord and has come out the other side unscathed and undaunted. I'm one proud Mommy!