My Bubble!

Do you ever cringe when someone stands a little too close for comfort to you and you don't even know them? Close enough you can feel their breath on your skin or even smell their perfume?

When did people feel it was appropriate to get that comfortable with strangers? I always find that uncomfortable that unless I am familiar with them or they are family, I prefer the bubble.

You know the bubble I am referring to, that one that dictates the amount of space directly in front of me and to the side so people don't confuse our relationship as being more than friends so about a foot in each direction. An arms length preferably, unless I invite you into my bubble that is, like giving you a hug upon departing our ways or even saying hello sometimes.

It appears as though society has forgotten those said rules and our personal bubble space is being invaded and no one says anything or they don't seem to care just how uncomfortable you are with that happening.

Take for example what happened this Sunday. We decide to head to the beach because summer is almost at an end and school begins next week. We figured we could squeeze out a little more time and spend the day completely relaxing.

We got to the beach at 10am. It opened at 8am but since we have marine layers in affect here, fancy technical term for clouds at the beach, we decided to wait a bit for it to warm up. So there were a few people begin to stake out their claim on the sand.

You know what I am talking about. Your personal space where you lay out all your stuff, your beach towels, coolers, umbrellas, blankets, and stuff so you know where your boundaries are right?

We have a tendency to move as close to the water as possible to avoid being drenched when the tide comes in and not only that the sand quality is better without all the pieces of driftwood all over the area. We also want to be able to see our kids from our chairs when they head to the water or make sand castles. We also want them to be able to see us from the water just in case they drift out of sight.

We were all enjoying our time of watching the kids build sand castles only to be lost to the waves as they crashed on shore and surrounding the castle like a blanket taking pieces of it back home to the ocean floor. The kids spent the large part of the day playing in the waves, boogie boarding and even watching a school of dolphins just beyond the breaking point of the waves.

We enjoyed lunch with our ocean view and even caught a sailboat race later in the afternoon as the tide was coming in. Life was so relaxing and everyone was having a great time.

Imagine our surprise however when a large, large family placed their belongs and attempted to set up a full blown operational kitchen and living room directly next to my daughters chair that you would have thought they knew each other.

Because they didn't have enough room for their bedroom, their proceeded to occupy the sandy space directly in front of us that if I were to lay out in front of my chair we would have been instantly related.

Anyone feeling it yet?

Not only that, more and more family members kept showing up. They continued to call others from their cell phone and let them know that the house was almost built and where to find it.

Steve and I looked at each other to shut each others mouths as they proceeded to hang open because we simply could not believe it, and looked around the beach and noticed acres of land on the shore line that had not been occupied and wondered why here, next to us, in our personal bubble??

What do you say? The beach is public? No space is really yours right? I mean I can't even park our stuff in front of someone else because I think it's rude. So what do you do?

I mean I could smell the food cooking in their make shift kitchen already and it did not smell good at all. It is apparent that bubbles don't keep odors out.

So we just packed up our stuff and left. We had spent enough time there and we did not want to relocate our belongs for this situation and did not want a family confrontation in front of our kids. As we were walking back to our car and crossing the sand, when Steve and I looked back, we saw the family was adding a dining room and second floor where we had just vacated our space.

Next time, Steve said we were going to have to build our own home and put up caution tape and orange cones. I told him it still wouldn't work, some people just don't see the bubble anymore.

Family Fun Magazine Offer for $ 4.95

Yes, you read it correctly. An entire year's worth of great family fun ideas for only $ 4.95.

I thought I would post it here because there are so many moms out there that need some new ideas for how to keep kids both entertained and learning. I found this at No Ordinary Moments blog this morning and tried it out. It works. My new subscription is on it's way for a mere $4.95.

This is something too good not to pass along. So stop by Jolanthe's blog and try it out. You may even follow her blog as well since it's so great for moms and families!

I Believe!

I remember the saying, "I believe" was something that ran throughout the movie Miracle on 34th Street when the validity of a man claiming to be Santa Claus was called into question by the court of law. You have union workers stating their beliefs, traffic cops, kids on the street you name it, everyone is stating their belief in Santa Claus. Then there are other plays on the words believe. You have to believe it to see it, I believe I will have a second slice of pie, I believe in myself, I believe in UFO's, I believe in life after death, you name it someone has believed in it. Some will even claim to use the word believe to inspire something heavenly, supernational or to come off sounding religious or moral.

What about our religious beliefs? Oh sure we can share then when asked, or when in church or perhaps with close friend or families but never anywhere else, least likely of all work right? Isn't that the taboo word, God at work, don't discuss it. What are we afraid of? We might offend someone? We might get fired? Its just not something to discuss unless off site or when asked?

For five years, I taught a class as a corporate trainer for one of the largest communications companies called Respecting the Workplace. I loved this class because of how we got to stir up things you aren't suppose to discuss at work. Did you know, that you can discuss religion at work? Yup, and sometimes it's one of the few places you can learn from other's differences. The issue of trying to sell your religion or force someone to change their beliefs is where companies tell you that you're crossing the line because you have potentially offended the other person.

Yet as Jesus walked among the people during his times here, didn't He talk to people about God, wherever He was? He didn't dine only with the big wigs and CEO's of companies or the White House, he went in the worst possible places imaginable. He can to the people, He didn't call the people to Him. He met them right where they were, in the midst of their worst times and in their worst appearances. It doesn't say that lepers hid from Jesus, they sought Him out. The prostitutes didn't run away in shame, they ran to Him.

People need to know what faith in God can do. We all know at times what our faith in God the Father and Jesus Christ has done for us, do we share it or do we wait to be asked? I heard a news report last night that really bothered me just after the Academy Awards last night. It stated how Hollywood choose that opportunity to share it's beliefs with not only the people attending, but also all the viewers on television. I heard that writers and actors alike used this opportunity to share their beliefs in gay marriage (AGAIN) and how the rest of us supporters of non gay marriage should be ashamed for withholding their rights from them.

Which rights are they claiming? Rights for benefits? Rights to adopt children? Rights to leave personal property to their significant other? I am lost. I will not support the right for the definition of a married couple to be something other than what God created and that's man and wife.(Genesis 2:24) Is it because they have intruded on everything else that was God ordained at this point and won? Is this a challenge for them to attempt to persuade others to their side?

Hard to believe that we should be ashamed for believing in the design of marriage the way it should be, and it doesn't need to be redefined for any other reason. Go find another cause. There will always be another one. I stand by my decision to raise my children to be tolerant of what other people may believe and that there always will be people who believe differently than us. I will not have society force me or my family to believe that marriage as it has stood since the beginning needs to be changed to fit everyone.

This is one time where one size does not fit all and I think it's wrong that the media remains biased on this point. I can't wait for someone to stand their ground and report both sides without favoring one side or the other. Since it's my right to choose, I will choose not to support the Hollywood actors or writers with my hard earned money so they can use it for evil. I will support those actors, writers and companies that promoted God so that they can continue to produce great fruit in a dark world.