Unloading the Peeves

My bathroom scale has been a little heavy lately and I'm sure that I know why. I've been carrying around too many peeves. So in hopes of a miracle weight loss solution, I'm unloading some now.

Peeve 1


The cultural lie that Senior year is the defining moment of your life. I believe this lie was created by marketing geniuses at the Class Ring- Senior Photo- Letter Jacket -Corporation. I'm facing this one in a major way: Sarah is going to be a senior. We have been blessed with a child who has wisdom beyond her years. She laughed at the idea of getting a letter jacket and ring. She wore a Star Trek communicator on the belt of her pretty little dress during senior pictures today. She gets it - I wish I had when I was her age. Maybe it was one too many John Hughes movies but I bought the lie, the ring, and the jacket. Fortunately that wasn't the defining year of my life. The life I thought I would live didn't happen, but a much better life is occurring. A challenging, unexpected, flawed yet just right for me life. And I am grateful. I'll face this peeve head on all year, but that's alright because both of my wonderful daughters will be at my side and who could feel sad in this situation?

Peeve 2

Christians must look, think, and act like the Cleaver family.

I just read a headline that said "Anne Rice is leaving Christianity".  Really? Here are her quotes:

" ... It's simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

She continues to say:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me," Rice wrote. "But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become.”-Anne Rice

I've made a note to discuss this in more detail with Ms. Rice when I see her in Heaven. It's hard for us to love others when we are so busy shooting each other in the feet. There, I said it. Now moving on to.....


Peeve  3

Your life is defined by your job, financial status, degree, neighborhood you live in, etc. This is a great time to mention that I live in the "Number Five Money Magazine Best City to Live in for 2010". I'm glad they told me that because I didn't know. You want to be me, don't you? ;) When are we going to stop listening to what society tells us to value? When are we going to start to really live and enjoy the important things, like the priceless relationships we have with the people around us?

Anybody else peeved?  Maybe I peeved you as I unloaded my list on the curb?

Good, let's discuss.