We Choose Love

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We choose love.

In our house, that is what we choose over everything. Over hate. Over anger. Over sadness. Over despair. We choose love. We have raised our boys to choose love. When our oldest son came home and asked us about a child whose skin color was different from his, we told him that was something special God does – he makes us all look different. Imagine if we all looked the same…how boring would that be? This answer was suitable for his then 4-year-old mind. This also set up his mind to choose love. We are loved even though we may be different and we are still valued.

So what does that mean? “We Choose Love.”

For our family, it means when we see people who are different than us rather that be due to their skin color, body type, abilities/disabilities, religion…whatever it may be, we choose to love them. Our differences are what make us special. When my oldest (who is now 7) went to Summer camp, there was a little girl who had braces on her legs and walked with crutches. That was how he referred to her – “the girl with crutches.” It broke my heart. I told him that I wanted him to learn her name. I was going to ask when I picked him up. I told him that he needed to be helpful if she needed help and I wanted him to be kind because she was just like him but that she may need help doing things that he can do. When I picked him up, he smiled and he said: “Her name is Zoey.” And then went on to tell me when he saw her sitting alone in the grass while the others played on the swings, he went and sat with her so she wasn’t alone. He could have gone and played and left her there but instead – he chose love.

We were at the park for a picnic recently and a Muslim family came to have a picnic also. They had a daughter and son, they had their picnic packed in a bag, they had smiles on their faces and were ready to sit and eat. They were just like us. The difference was the mother was wearing a burka. My son got really close to me and whispered: “Why do people wear those?” I explained it was due to their beliefs. He asked “Is it her religion?” and I said yes. He worried that maybe she would be hot wearing it in the sun and how it was a good choice to sit under the shelter house for their picnic like we did. She was different from me but she was still a mama and he was concerned. He chose love.

That being said, these differences that we believe are special about someone are often the differences that some people choose to use as the reason to hate a person. So there is the next question, how do we explain that to our children? How do we explain that one of the things we are most proud of about members of our family is their decision to serve and protect the citizens of our towns but there are people who don’t even know them but hate them because of it? We have friends and family members who have skin that is lighter and darker than ours and we choose to love them but others choose to hate them. What do I say to my children when they ask why that is?

It is not easy to answer their questions about such tough topics. However, when they do ask these questions it is our chance to guide them down the right path. We as parents, have the opportunity and most importantly, the responsibility to teach our children to do the right thing. Some people make decisions that aren’t necessarily the right decisions and it may be something that we would never do BUT we have the chance to do the opposite. We can make the world a better place by not spreading the hate, the judgment, the mean-spiritedness but instead choosing to spread kindness, love, and understanding. As parents, we can guide our children to do better. It is our responsibility to leave this world better than it is now and we can do that through teaching our children to value, love and respect one another.

We can choose love.

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Lindsey Gust-Niswonger
Hi there! I'm Lindsey! I'm a "boymom" and am so very "outnumbered!" but I couldn't be happier with my boys, Augustus and Jameson! I'm originally from Northwest Ohio but moved to the Dayton area when I married my husband in 2008. Together we have created a little family we affectionately call The Niswonger Frat House. We like to live a pretty simple life filled with a lot of family time, sports, good food and church on Sundays. I work for a local catering company part time as their photographer and social media coordinator. This adds to my love of food even more as I get to see these amazing dishes be created from start to finish! It's a really fun job and I am very lucky as I do get to take my boys with me to some of the events. I have dealt with endometriosis for most of my life and that lead to fertility issues but thankfully, God had a bigger plan for us. I am always an open book to anyone who has experienced these issues and love to hear from others about their experiences. We have to support each other as women and as mamas! I am absolutely addicted to Tim Hortons coffee, anything Tom Selleck and old television shows like The Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote! I'm a total book nerd and list the library as one of my favorite places to be! I'm really looking forward to being a contributor and learning more about other mamas and how they parent their littles! It's fun ride we are all on so let's high five and cheer each other on!

1 COMMENT

  1. What a beautifully written article on Choosing Love! I especially liked the mom making sure her son identified the girl with the crutches by her name! As adults, some of us weren’t raised to appreciate our melting pot in this world. This mom is creating a domino effect whereas her child will teach his child and so forth! And God willing, we will all be accepted as one in his name. Kudos to the writer!

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