Environmental Influence

Whether we want to accept or deny it, our environment really does affect us. It shapes our perspectives, it shapes how we do things, it shapes our norms, and it shapes our lives.  An environment that really has affected me is my family.  They are who I have grown up with and have taught me much of what I know about life.  As a family, our beliefs are pretty much the same throughout.  We have a strong Christian foundation to our beliefs and we focus a lot on family.  I have seen this by my parents doing everything to show me the love of Christ and how to show that to others.  We haven't ever been very knowledgeable of theology, but I have learned the discipline of serving.  I grew up in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other places where we can serve.  I still keep in weekly communication with them and I not only see my immediate family all the time, but I also see my extended family many times throughout the year.  We have always grown up that dinner time with the family was important.  We all would sit around the dinner table and start off in prayer.  Then we would all talk and hang out.  I always loved having that as a daily part of our family.  We always joke around about each other and I've seen that isn't normal for some families.  We like to have running jokes about funny things someone has said.  It really does make hanging around your parents fun.  Because of all these things, it really reflects in all of our lives.  You can definitely tell if you are a Leedy.
My gender influences my values by how I operate in my relationships and friendships.  When I am around a group of guys is different than if I was around girls.  I can really go in depth with a guy about his life because we can relate.  I couldn't do that with a girl unless she was my girlfriend or wife.  There are certain boundaries that you operate in according to your gender. So if I am leading a group of guys, I would have no hesitance on going deep into their lives and challenge them that way. If I was leading a group of girls, I wouldn't go as deep because I need to understand my place as a male.  As for my race or ethnicity, they really don't come into play.  I am Polish, French-Canadian, and German, but my roots don't go deep.  These ethnic values really haven't shaped much of who I am, mostly because I really don't know the culture and haven't been a part of it.