More in Common Than You Think.

I was thinking about my friends the other day and what an eclectic group of people I know.  As I was thinking this I especially thought about two of my friends that I knew in high school.  One I met in Idaho, another in California.  Each of us had very different backgrounds, and yet we have so many things in common.  So many times high school friends are only that, friends in high school.  That could have been true for these two, but after a number of years we reconnected.  It is so neat to see all of the things we have in common.  All of us are now married and have started families.  All of us became stay at home mommies.  All of us are now homeschooling.  Part of my decision was influenced by one of these friends.  It's true that we have many differences among us.  We have different religious beliefs, different political beliefs and differing ways to raise our children, but we have so many things in common.

Another friend of mine is actually quite a bit older than me.  She is probably closer to my mom's age than mine.  We share a love of food.  We have shared quite a few recipes and even produce from our gardens.  I have friends that I do crafts with, friends that I talk books with, friends that I talk parenting with.  I have friends that make me laugh, friends that I make laugh.  Friends that live far away and friends that aren't so far away.  I have friends who are incredibly outspoken and I have one friend who is amazing at loving everyone she meets.

So what does this have to do with anything?  Well, nothing, and everything.  Wouldn't this world be a very scary place if everyone were the same, or maybe it would be boring, depending on what person we were modeling after.  I am so glad that there are people out there who like to clean and who like to fish and who like to organize and those who like to craft and design clothes and garden and farm.  I am so glad I don't have to know how to do everything, but I can trade what I know and like with someone else who maybe has talents I don't have.  I want to teach my children to look for the good in people.  I want them to look at who a person is on the inside instead of what color their skin is, or what church they go to, or what clubs they belong to.  I want them to judge a person by what they say and do, not what they look like.  I want to teach my children to respect others because we are all children of God.  That doesn't mean that we have to accept or agree with everything someone does, but we can still treat them with respect and find a common ground.