A Fickle Gut

A short post today. This is what I was thinking about in the wee early hours as I lay in bed...

My gut is broken.

And by gut, I don't mean my intestinal insides that be can fixed by changing my diet and ingesting more probiotics, or my changes in appetite throughout the nine months of pregnancy. I mean the instinct inside me that is supposed to guide me through life. Somewhere along the way, during my childhood years, between moving so often, being bullied, not feeling affirmed enough, growing up in the Chinese tradition–a myriad of things–my "guide" broke.

Sometimes "following your gut" is a good thing, but in my case, I would be in a world of trouble, because my gut is not always trustworthy. 

I would take my small revenge–my gut tells me,"You deserve it. He/she owes it to you."

I would be fearful of everything–my gut says, "Something out there will hurt you or your child."

I would doubt myself all the time–my gut whispers, "Don't try it. You'll probably fail." or "Rita, you made a mistake... again."

I would avoid conflict–my gut screams, "Run away! Protect yourself!"

We are broken people living in a broken world. Life happens–the good and the bad–and most of the time, my jerk reaction to the bad is just not reliable. This is a lesson I need to learn again and again: trust in the Word, trust the Holy Spirit's promptings, and trust people I know in the family of God. When I get lax and overly confident in my own abilities, I go with my emotions; then without realizing it, I may choose to take the easy route, the route of self-preservation. But that route is not always the right route. 

Overriding my natural responses and emotions is not easy. It's an uncomfortable place to be–sometimes it's downright painful!–but it's better than listening to the fickleness of my gut.

Living in Truth

"Just do it."

Nike's well-known slogan has been around since 1988. I still remember my fifth-grade classmates talking about it at lunch because it was the hot topic of the time. And so my generation grew up with these words in its ear. No fear, no hesitation, no regrets… live life to the fullest.

But how true is that, really? People are all about catchy slogans these days– ways to summarize a philosophy in a few words– but are these words to live by?

I know that my young self didn't think twice about the truth behind the words I heard on television and on the radio. I heard them day in and day out and accepted them blindly. They sounded like good advice, and all things considered, not a bad way to live life.

Now as an adult, I see how many of the simple-sounding statements are contrary to God's Truth. And so, as a parent, I teach my children to think about the words before accepting them.

One example comes from the movie Zootopia. When the country rabbit first reaches the city, a song is playing in the background.

"Oh oh oh oh oh- try everything! Oh oh oh oh oh- try everything!"

Of course, in the movie, the upbeat song is serving as the background to a scene in which the main character is experiencing many new and exciting things. But out of context (because memorable hit songs are always taken out of context), what are the words saying? Try everything?

When my children heard this, they started questioning it.

"Try everything? Like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute? Or juggling chain saws? Or drinking poison?"

They erupted in laughter as they came up with more and more ridiculous scenarios, but I knew that they understood– trying everything is not always a good idea. There are times when a person should use caution, or even say an outright "No!" And I was encouraged by the fact that my children had learned to stop and think about the words rather than mindlessly repeating them just because they are accompanied by a musical hook and danceable beat.

Read through these following popular sayings and song lyrics and check yourself. How many of these do you agree with? What does God's Word say about them? And lastly, how can you talk to your children about them?

"All you need is love."

"You deserve it."

"If you believe it, you can achieve it."

"Let it go, let it go, can't hold it back anymore,
Let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door."

"The more you buy, the more you save."

"Be true to yourself."

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."