I'm in between loads of laundry so I'm taking the uninterrupted opportunity to write.  We have less than stellar wireless service which means my internet connection stops abruptly if one of the kids decides to microwave a hot pocket (Not today; the kids are at school 🙂 ).

Did anybody see Miley Cyrus on the VMA's last night? I didn't watch it, but Facebook lit up with posts about her performance. So I did what any curious person would do. I looked it up on YouTube. I can honestly say I was embarrassed watching it. As Jason has said before, "I felt like I needed to go wash my eyeballs".

I remember Miley years ago when she played Hannah Montana.  Hallie watched the show some, but she really liked Miley's music. I did too.  Her music started off kid friendly, but it wasn't too long before Miley started posing provocatively in photos. Her lyrics mirrored that negative change.

I remember Hallie praying in third grade  (or so) that God would help Miley not to lie. She said that Miley, in an interview had stated the Bible was her favorite book. Hallie prayed saying she didn't think Miley would be acting that way if the Bible was her favorite book.

If I had the choice for Hallie to never have heard of Miley Cyrus or for her to have known of Miley and her shortcomings I'd choose that she knows her, and prays for her.

It's not just Miley that disappoints.  And it's not just music.

I find myself perched on the shakiest of teeter-totters as a parent.

Bizarre, unhealthy relationships and families with an alternate design other than what God intended are injected into what we see on TV. Young voices sing "I crashed my car into the bridge.  I watched it.  I let burn." and Eminem glorifies being in an abusive relationship (even the clean version). It's one thing to see the broken.  It's an altogether different thing to encourage, even promote it. Watch and see, there will be girls dressing up like the Kardashians this Halloween.

Not one to protect my kids from everything, I allow them to be exposed somewhat to a deteriorating society (It's almost impossible to avoid).   We allowed our kids to see "The Hunger Games".  I read the book to them on one of our Colorado trips.  I'm well aware of the violence in the book.  However we had good conversations about Christ-like sacrifice and not losing yourself to the pandering crowd.

We are in the world.

We are called to "not" be of it.

I'm all for protecting my kids.  They rather abhor the fact that I get on their ipods and go through their music googling song lyrics of titles found in their playlist.  I know they intentionally get some songs they know they shouldn't have.  Other catchy songs are purchased without a thought as to what the lyrics mean providing a chance to talk and learn about what they mean (Words mean things). Either way, inappropriate songs are deleted.

 

Sound wishy-washy?

Here's what I'm thinking.

1. I don't want to shelter my kids to the point that they have no awareness of evil.  I want them to recognize evil for evil.  I want Jesus to be the mark of goodness they use to measure all else.

2. Any exposure I allow the kids, should NOT be exposure without supervision.  I'm almost nervous to let the kids watch TV (even the Disney channel now) without my checking every few minutes or watching the TV with them.  I am becoming more and more convicted about the times where I haven't been so cautious.

3. What I allow the kids to watch and "listen to" HAS to become more of a matter of prayer.  It's ok for me to say no.  And it's ok for them not to like it.  You best be sure we won't be watching the VMA's.  I'm done with Super Bowl half-times too.  Don't let the Jones's idea of what to watch dictate what you do. PRAY ABOUT IT.

4. It remains important to have an open dialogue.  There have been dozens of conversations that have been accompanied by pink cheeks and sometimes disagreement, but hopefully the kids know that there is not an off-limits topic. I walked in to Hallie's room one time to find her watching "Toddlers and Tiaras"  My instinct was to tell her to turn it off.  Instead we talked about how mere toddlers' innocence had been stripped and replaced with flippers and spray tans.

5. Hollywood, Nashville and the media provide examples of talent and physical beauty.   In song, on film and gracing the pages of magazines these people appear heroic and perfect.  Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong were quite the guys to aspire to be like until we learned that they both had problems with different kinds of cheating.  Hayden and I had a conversation about Lance Armstrong.  I told him that Lance Armstrong is just a person.  He wasn't as good as they made him out to be in the first place and probably wasn't the devil they made him out to be recently either.  It was a good reminder that people are people.  Star role models are hard to come by. We need to talk about that. They're fallen people.  Jesus and people who've made him their role model are the ones to pay closest attention to.

6. I have to make the effort to pour God into them.  Though I fail, I need to be an example.  I need to PRAY PRAY PRAY that as right and wrong are before them, that they'll choose right. And I pray that they'll be surrounded by a community of grace that loves them when they don't.

7. I must make time to turn the music down and the TV off.

It is my job to help them make sense of ALL the voices.

²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹ at the head of the noisy streets she cries out Proverbs 1:20-21