How to begin…
As a Christian, as a mom there are times when I feel overwhelmed.
Case in point, last night on the way to church the girlchild was behind the wheel. The customary mode of operation is that as soon as her butt hits the seat there is an automatic change in the radio station. The concept of driving without music is just not an option. So there I sit in the passenger seat and it begins to wash over me. I am listening to the words that are pouring forth from the radio and I am in shock.
I continue to listen, wondering when the pod person is going to bust forth from my child's chest, because surely my sweet precious child would never listen to such as this. I cast a glance over to the drives side and watch as we travel along.
Song number two comes on and again I am listing to the lyrics and becoming more and more alarmed. When my brain and my heart could take no more, fortunately we had come to a stop sigh. I had a moment to ask without distracting her, I asked “Do you ever listen to the words of your music?” as I reached up and enforced my parental authority and switched it over to my Christian radio station.
Her answer….it was a curt “NO!”
At this point I am contemplating the Lords wisdom, exactly what was He thinking when He knit this child together in my womb…cause I’m not getting it! Now this is not my first rodeo. My son is now 24, so I have been down this teenage road before. I have the scars to prove it.
Here is the thing, both my children have been reared with Christian values since the day they were born. It is talked about, discussed daily. It is lived everyday, practiced as best we can everyday. The plumb line of behavior that is expected is set according to the biblical standard laid out in God’s word.
So as a mom I expressed my distress as to the the inappropriate content I had just experienced.
“It’s just a song Mom!”
My eyes have now fallen out of my head and my brain is millimeters for exploding…..”Just a song” she says…
Y’all there are times when I just want to run and hide. The world expresses itself so very loudly. Our young people see nothing wrong with the dumbing down of morality. I begin to wonder, even in a home where Christian morals are discussed, certain behavior is set as an expectation, the worlds still inserts it’s low bar of expectations into our daily lives.
I take a deep breath, and begin “It may be just a song, but the lyrics are endorsing things that God finds objectionable. God does not want us listing to or participating in things that go against His Word.”
I get the look…..at this point y’all I was done. I just wanted to smack her “upsidethehead” and then reach in and retrieve her brain and give it a good firm shake.
Parenting is so hard y’all, being a Christina in an evil word is even more difficult. Daily I find areas of grey. Confession, as a mature Christian I struggle to weed through the crap the world places before me, what will I watch, what will I read, what will I participate in. I have to make choices, I may want to watch this or that, but I have to consider what God want first. I fail sometimes….I fail a lot actually. But I know where the lines are drawn. In my head and in my heart I know almost instantly when I cross it. Most of the time I listen, I delete a move from the DVR, or I switch the channel or delete a download from my Kindle. I am a work in progress like we all are. Our teenagers, even more so. They are so influenced and bendable by the things and people they come in contact with.
For our young people it is much more perilous. The have the disadvantage of walking around with the axis of the world shifting with their every step. With their limited world view, the emphasis placed on everything being acceptable it is a perilous thin line they walk every day. All they see is that all of us uninformed adults are trying to tell them what to do. We don’t know anything and they know everything. The axis of the earth really does shift with their every step because it is anchored firmly wherever they may be standing.
Rearing teenagers is not for sissies or cowards…
Did she here what I said, probably not. Her response to my comment about God not approving of the content of the song…..”Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion Mom!”
I’m thinking “upsidethehead” again but since we had just entered the family center at church I thought better of it.
Here’s a thought! Wouldn’t it be great if teenagers where like computers. When they get full of viruses and garbage you could just wipe the hard drive clean and replace all the junk with clean new programming…..THAT’S WHAT I WANT!
But we don’t live in a perfect world and I can’t wipe my child's brain clean.
I can continue to place the right ideas before her. I pray for both of my children every day. It truly is my best line of defense again the relentless and enticing evil that pervades the world today.
Against my better judgment I did a Google search for the two songs that were on the radio last night. If you want your brain to explode as well you can follow the links below.
Blessings
R
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