Journal Liora's Journal: The best date idea ever! (and other news)... 9
Shimmin and I went on what I will describe as a date in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. He came over to my place at 3 am and then we went east of town (the Leonids would be in the east, so we wanted the city lights behind us) and watched the meteor shower. I was a little silly in picking a place to watch from, and we drove around probably longer than we had to, but all in all, it was amazing. We saw a lot of meteors in the two hours we were out. Afterwards we went back to my house and I cooked him breakfast.
In other news, I am trying to figure out what to think about my brother. The other day he just "let slip" that he had been at a conference in Portland for some GLBT group. I love my brother. I even love my brother's boyfriend. But he knows how I feel about that. And, what bothers me more than that, is that I am starting to think that maybe my dad and his wife don't trust my brother not to be a freak and stuff around my little sister. I want them all to be happy together. But yet I can't resolve the issues in my head, so how on earth can they? They are from the generation that can't leave things unresolved so I feel like all parties involved are sacrificing their relationships based on some judgement of each other. I'm sorry, but my love and friendship for him come way before anything else, and theirs should too, and his love and friendship for them should come before his judgement of their judging him. Maybe this will never work out. Such is life. Any thoughts on how I can get my dad and his wife just to ignore it (other than the obvious one, pray)?
I, unless otherwise convinced by all of you folks, am going to buy an iBook in the near future. Even though I use pc's at work, I have always been a mac owner for personal use (don't ask why, I didn't even plan it, it just sort of happened) and now I want to be able to write wherever I want, cafes, bars, Haiti, whenever something comes to mind. Is there anything I should consider here, other than that now is a great time to get all of the MS Suite software for it from the Apple store b/c it is $200.00 off? Or does anyone want to say that I should really get an AirPort or an iPod?
happy happy (Score:2)
i am trying to think of good advice about your family, but nothing comes to mind. have you spoken to your parents much about your brother?
i've never owned a laptop. those apples sure are pretty, though. if you don't need any of the windows centric things (the only ones for me are 3d aps and games) on your laptop, the ibook seems like a good idea just for the beauty and the battery.
Journal entry reply (Score:2)
What is GLBT? As for being a freak around your little sister, do you know anyone who is openly sexual around little kids (heterosexual or homosexual?). If so, there is something seriously wrong and sexuality has nothing to do with it.
As for praying, what would you pray for? Sexual preference conversion? Please accept some advice from someone who has watched a couple friends of both mine and my wife's go through life struggling with religion, sexuality and relationships with family. Love them and accept them for who they are as there is nothing that you can do about sexual preference and it is not for anyone to get in between an individual and God. Ask yourself this: What makes you heterosexual? Does your heterosexuality come into your relationship with God?
Onto a lighter topic. As for the iBook, go for it. There has never been a better bargain with portable Macs. I am currently typing this on a new 800 Mhz iBook with the 12.1 in screen and it absolutely rocks.
Best Regards,
Re:Journal entry reply (Score:2)
Umm... Maybe you ought to reread my JE. I said that I love my brother, and I am concerned that my dad and his wife don't trust him with my little sister, and that they have sacrificed their relationship with him due to their opinions of his lifestyle, not that I have.
At the beginning of that paragraph I was merely stating that I am irked that he keeps bringing up his involvement in things I don't approve of. That's like someone being a crack addict, that you love anyway, and knowing that you don't want to hear about how high they got yesterday, but they tell you about the big rock they scored anyway.
And as far as my not approving what he does, well... that's my business. Some people think crack is okay, others don't. I don't. That's my preference. And, both as a person who used to think crack was ok, and one who has a relationship with God who states that crack is not ok, I have an opinion for myself. Additionally, as a person who operates in Christian community, if I see my friends using crack, I have to tell them "hey, don't use crack. It's not a good idea." That doesn't, however, mean they are not my friends if they keep using anyway, it just means that I gave them some advice and they ignored it.
Finally, I know a bunch of people who have prayed for God to intervene in their lives in powerful ways, including things like this, and they have been successfully healed. If God can make light, God can change people's desires and feelings.
Re:Journal entry reply (Score:2)
Re:Journal entry reply (Score:2)
No. It's more like somebody being born a woman and wanting to encourage equal treatment for women, so they attend events sponsored by feminist groups. This is probably something that I wouldn't share with some members of my family, though because they're not much into it. However, if you, for example, ask what he did over the weekend, you can't be mad at him for telling the truth.
Re:Journal entry reply (Score:2)
As a Christian, I too believe that God can work in powerful ways. However, some folks do not want to change their sexuality as it defines them in many of the same ways that hetersexuality defines you or me for that matter. And if you believe that God loves folks for who they are, then why would they ask God to change them if they are doing no harm simply because of their sexuality? The way it was explained to me is, "Why are you heterosexual?" My response was "I don't know, I just like women". "Well, there you go. Now imagine if someone were to tell you that that was not what you should be feeling and you had to prefer people of the same sex. Would that feel odd to you?"
My point in the previous post was simply for your parents to acknowledge your brothers sexuality, and love him. They don't have to approve, and if he is not doing anything to harm himself or others, simply love and accept him. After all, did Jesus turn His back on anyone?
Urm. (Score:1)
Great to hear that The Liora Romance Epic is in one of it's comedic cycles. We're all rooting for you back at the home office.
Depressing stuff last: regarding your family life as it relates to your brother's sexuality: gah. Oh, and comparing homosexuality to crack addiction isn't okay. It's a whole lot more valid to compare it to being a Christian in 100 AD Rome, or a Jew before 1950 (or maybe ever).
For your contemplation: could you love someone who was a bigoted atheist? Would it hurt if they didn't temper their godless outcry around you? What if they wanted to keep their kids away from you, because they were afraid you might proselytize to them?
What can you do to help your brother out with your dad? It's simple: stand up for him, even if it's only reactively.
Re:Urm. (Score:2)
I'd go further than this, and say don't buy the iBook. Save up until you can afford the TiBook. The main reason is the keyboard, which is horribly tacky on the iBook, but much better on the TiBook. To the point where I find tpying on the iBook actively unpleasant. Plus the TiBook is a much sexier machine in general :-)
As for the other issue, if your Dad is sufficiently prejudiced to put his dislike of your brother's sexuality above his parental love, then there's probably very little you can do to improve the situation. Sorry, I don't have any ideas on this one.