A Single Mother’s Day

I want to tell you how much I love mothers. I am not just talking about my mother, for whom I owe more than my life. She is an incredible example of Love and Godliness, for which I have never seen in another. Today, however, I am talking about single mothers. This is why I love single mothers.

When some mothers are waiting for their shift to end after a long day with their kids and hand them off to their husbands, single mothers are rolling up their sleeves for a long night. When some mothers are tapping their tag-team, better halves at three in the morning because the crying becomes too much, single mothers are going on 3 weeks napping in the gaps. When the washer breaks down, the pluming is shot, and the water is filling the room, single mothers get it done. They have to get it done. Single mothers don’t have another option.

When three half-pints are pulling on her jeans, after she just made breakfast, lunch, and dinner, after cleaning up the house, after following the kids around to make sure they’re safe…they know, that this day will repeat until they are old enough to crawl, walk, talk, school, and finally leave when they are old enough. Single mothers are soldiers, saints, and martyrs. Daily they die to themselves in order to raise a better tomorrow. Their dedicated resolve, unfurled by life’s attempts to destroy them inspires me. They have no calvary coming to fend off a hard day. They know that they need to be strong, because no one else will. They know one of the many true meanings of “life is not fair.” Single mothers need a day like today, hell, they need a year. Today I recognize those women, those self-sacrificing warriors for parenting.

If you know a single mother, recognize them today and everything that they do for their children. They deserve it.

The Ever Fleeting Sun

So, It’s been a while, but it’s a new month. With that comes new and glorious things. Actually, that completely depends on where you are in the world…but I wont go into that right now.

I am writing to tell you, my readers, my family, and my friends; whether you are on wordpress, facebook, twitter or something else, that a change is coming. For some of you, this change will not matter and wont effect you in anyway. For others, it will be a welcomed change.

In the recent months that I have been in New Zealand, I have been thinking. While I know that this is a dangerous task to engage in, I have been doing it none-the-less. In the last few days, this thinking has been fed by a desire of intentionality. Why do we do what we do? Is it the best way? Is it the wise way? These thoughts have been centralized around one device. The Smartphone. Now, before I get into this, you should know that I am very tech savvy. I fixed the network for the social service agency I worked for, I taught my mom how to work around the computer, and I used to work at an Apple Store. This is no nudge on myself, but rather a product of the age I’ve been born into. Kids are just amazing at this stuff now.

STILL, in January of this year, I owned my first smartphone. I know. I know. Somehow I was living without one until now.With the integration of this new device, I promised myself that I would NOT be that guy who is always on his phone, telling people he’s paying attention, when in reality how could I be?! Pretty soon I had people telling me that I was consumed with the device. It sickened me. But on I continued.

One of the few changes I will be making is the choice to stop using apps on my phone that use data. Whether that is Google search, a web browser, facebook, twitter, etc. Unless I’m in a bind, I will be checking these things on my own time, on my laptop. I have done this for my whole life, without having it literally at my fingertips, and I am wagering that this is what everyone can still do. I will go so far as to say that we don’t NEED (“need” being the key word) data for our phones (aside from using phones for text & calls)

This is a decision I normally would have made on my own, without broadcasting it to the web, making me look ‘holyer than thou.’ The reason I chose to write about this and publically tell you about what I’m doing is because I think that this is a pretty serious problem taking over. We don’t sit still anymore. Stillness/silence is feared and even seen as ridiculous. And I think that taking small steps to slow down, and remove the smartphone from my tight, unforgiving grip….is a good thing! Think about it.

Now, on a different note, with me living in New Zealand, I feel a great obligation to write about my life here as well as share photos with those back home, to give them an insight to my life. “TAKE PHOTOS” were some of the last words said by some of my friends before I left. And yet, I am not ignorant enough to realize that my life here can look much more incredible than what my friends and family back in the flattest state in the U.S. are living. My photos can inadvertently cause others to hate their life, or resent my happiness. Without realizing it, I can come off as someone “having it all” showing the best parts of life, rather than the flat tire I just got, or the dull monotony that occurs on most days (even in New Zealand). I run risk of deifying this land in a manner that is in no way accurate, or fair to those back home.

I have thus decided to stop subjecting my friends, on facebook or twitter, to my photos on instagram. I will still post to instagram, but those photos will only be available to those following me on the site. Those people choose to see my photos, rather than me forcing people on facebook to look at my “amazing life.” Please note that my reaction is not a response to anything that anyone voiced to me, but rather a product of my intentional thought process. We need to be considerate, and we need to know the effect we may be having on one another. What is wise?

Finally, I have started a side-project called “The Ever Fleeting Sun” where I post the photos that most people will now not be seeing on facebook. If you choose to go to my site, you will see the beauty that I see, as well as the moments that I personally feel like capturing in this incredible country.

Thank you for reading and hearing me out. I think that this will be a good change, and I think that I will enjoy it. Much Love from the great land of New Zealand.

Eric

 

Beauty. Where ARE You?

Beauty is something we have forgotten to notice. Like the gradual passing of Autumn, we sometimes forget it was even there, trees go bare, do we even care?

Beauty used to be everything, in everything, made instruments sing. We used to care so much about the strokes of a brush, causing the hush, making viewers blush. Is it even there?

Beauty. Where did you go? Did you run and hide? Are you there below? Don’t you know? You are the seed that helps life grow. You are the glow, the early snow, you are the young lovers in throw.

Beauty has taken the back seat. Sitting alone, nobody remembers. Wasting away, nobody values her. There are the occasional fighters, and for them, I support. A beauty cohort.

Beauty, you’re worth it. And yet, an entire land with amnesia to one of the most important and worth while aspects of life…forgets. Beauty should be on the front page, in our words, how we treat the least of these. Beauty should take back the canvas, the soundboard, the page. Beauty should infuse how we love, how we create, how we care. Beauty should freely be.

Before, beauty arrived in true form, flowing lightly, like a leaf in a storm. Beauty surrounds, in sounds, beneath mounds, it abounds in Love. In the foregrounds of smiles, resounds in profiles. Beauty camps out with joy, with awesome wonder, emotion deploy, morning whisper.

What is beauty to you? Is it the rise of new day glow? Water bending beneath its flow? Din of cities turned down low? Heavy blankets in December snow? What is beautiful?, I want to know. Ask me, and I will echo. Hearing your voice say hello, the emotion in waiting till tomorrow, moving from much too fast to wonderfully slow.

Beauty, you’re the invisible phenomenon. You’re everywhere, but no one can see you anymore, feel you anymore, care about you anymore. I write to remember, I love so that you’re close, I read so that you remain alive. Beauty, come back.

A New Zealand-Sized Update

Hello everyone, and greetings from New Zealand. It’s raining here quite heavily, and thought this would be a good time to finally update you on my progress here. A lot has happened since my last update, and I feel that I have failed to clue you in. This is partially due to my laptop failing on me, and partially because I have been very busy.

First on the update: I have been accepted to the Maxim Internship. For all my American friends, this is not what you may think, and I do not work for the magazine. Let me make that quite clear, ha. The Maxim Institute features a very prestigious internship in the summer months (December-Feb), and then a semeser internship (March-July). The internship is esentially a ‘think tank’ that “produces research and informed analysis of contemporary issues; develops and promotes sound public policy; and communicates research findings and policy initiatives to the decision-makers and leaders of today.” (http://www.maxim.org.nz/about_us/overview3.aspx).

The view from the Intern house

Second: Now that I am in the internship, I live in the intern house that Maxim has provided for us. The house is on the North end of Wattle Bay, and comfortably fits me and the other 5 interns. The internship is a communal experience and also includes lectures and practical experience. I have been blessed to experience the internship due largly in part to the extremely generous donations by alumni and other donors. I am reminded everyday of the incredible opportunity I have to create change here in this country. I only hope that this internship can prepare me for working with this country’s people in a compitent and lasting way. The outside views from the intern porch also continue to remind me of God’s incredible creation and force me to take a break every once and a while, stop, and reflect. Always important I think.

About the Maxim Institute internship from Maxim Institute on Vimeo.

In the internship, I will be working with an organization named, “Te Whakaora Tangata,” which is the same organization that I have been volunteering with every other Saturday in Clendon. With them, I will be spending time with the people in that area, helping them, and providing services. In doing this, I will hopfully then be able to record their stories, and fulfill the need of someone hearing them and listening to them. By recording their stories, we can become better at what we do and thus offer more efficient services. Also, I feel it is an increbile service to listen to someone who feels invisible to the listening ears of their society. I can’t wait to get started, and in fact, I am quite eager to finally begin engaging.

Like I have stated before, I will be attending this internship until July, and then I will be looking for work in NZ as well as a flat to live in.

That will be all of the current updates about me at this point. I hope it hasn’t been too boring. Any prayers being sent my way would give me much joy. I love and miss you all and I pray that you will continue to work in making the area where you live into a much better place for everyone.

Eric Peterson

An American Outpour on New Zealand

New Zealand. Mighty, New Zealand.

With each breath you crest another wave,

Runners jog the beaches you pave,

And often forget tourists crave,

New Zealand. Mighty, New Zealand.

Your beauty is unlike anything I know,

From buildings & mountains high, to ocean floors below,

Your people use love, kindness, and pride to sow,

New Zealand. Mighty, New Zealand.

Rich with culture, stories, and lore,

From Middle Earth to the Hakas roar,

A country that beckons you to explore,

New Zealand. Mighty, New Zealand.

Whose roads I intend to roam,

With enough adventures to fill a tome,

A land this foreigner now calls home,

New Zealand. Mighty, Gentle New Zealand.