Lately, I’ve grappled a lot with feeling helpless and
hopeless. Race relations in America are
awful. One glace at my Facebook newsfeed
makes me want to climb under my bedcovers and hibernate for the rest of…oh, the
next four years.
Certainly, parenting children of color who are getting
older, moving from the public’s perception of being cute to being suspicious,
is weighing on my heart. The election
has certainly revved up a lot of people, many in not good ways.
I’m a work-from-home mom with four kids. I cannot just pick up and go to a big rally,
protest in the streets of D.C., volunteer.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to be home with my kids, but because of
my choice, motherhood is my (all-consuming) ministry. Between
these four walls is where it all happens.
So what can I do? How
can I be an activist when the immediate needs of caring for four children
consumes all of my time and energy?
I know many of you are in the same boat, whether you work
outside the home or not. You have kids,
a full-time commitment to being at home or outside the home, and perhaps a
spouse and home to take care of. And
you, like me, are in a fog of anger, discontentment, frustration, and
loss. What can I do? What can be done to make any difference?
As I read book after book, skim newstories, and write
articles, I feel a stirring in me to do more, to do something bigger, something
important and impactful.
Then it dawned on me the other night. I AM already doing what I need to do: I’m grappling.
Grappling means a commitment to change and growth. Grappling means rejecting what is now because
tomorrow will hopefully be better.
Grappling means dedication to raising kind, confident children. Grappling means dancing with hope.
A few months ago, I partnered with an Etsy company. I had
discovered the shop and found a beautiful home décor tile that I knew I
needed. I craved a reminder that I was
doing the right things and that activism starts at home.
Sugar, I hope you find the place where you feel you are
making a difference. And perhaps like me, that place is the incredible
honor you have right before you: raising
your family with the values that will continue to create change long beyond
this moment.
Keep on grappling.
