Remembering MLK Jr.

I will be honest. I don't think I've stopped to think about MLK like I have this year. On this day, as we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. I have been challenged by some of his wise words...and thankful for what he stood for. The girls and I have been reading some of his speeches, and I loved their thoughts about the unfair treatment of others:

Carlie: "Mommy, we were so mean! People with white skin treated people with black skin SO mean! And, we have white skin!"

Kendyll: As we finished watching his speech, "Man, Mom, I can't believe people were treated that way. And, now look at us. Traveling around Africa!"

Carlie: After telling the girls about what segregation was like in the '50's: "I was just thinking about what it would be like for our little brother or sister who is adopted. They would never be with us and would always have to go to a different place than us. That makes me really sad."

And, besides my own daughters' quotes, these important words of MLK's stood out to me, more this year, than ever before...

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood."

"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy."

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But...the Good Samaritan reversed the question: If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

And, of course, knowing that our family will be both black and white in future months, this quote made us all smile today:

"I have a dream...that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

And, I can't wait for the day it happens in this family... :)