Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns
If you think Jesus would have come into your home that day and not issued a strong rebuke to the head of household, you are mistaken. These words of condemnation have been haunting me for days now. They aren’t all that different than the soundtrack I play in my head on an almost-daily basis. It’s…
I am nesting. On Saturday I emptied the refrigerator. Last summer’s homemade pickles in their jars. The bread ends that seem to multiply on every shelf. The eggs. The milk. The fruit and veggies. All of it sat on the floor or the counter as I carefully removed the shelves and wiped them down with…
I’ve heard that life is like a highway. And it definitely seems like that sometimes. The pace of life swirls around me at dizzying speeds. We’re all so busy. In such a hurry. Always somewhere to be, something else to do. I’m a get-to-the-point, get-there-quick kind of girl. I don’t like to waste time on…
Picture this: My 3-year-old daughter and I are in the bathroom of a pizza place. I’m waiting with her while she goes potty. Meanwhile, music plays from a speaker overhead. We hear these words:
“The French are glad to die for love.
They delight in fighting duels.
But I prefer a man who lives
And gives expensive jewels.”
As the words reach my daughter’s ears, she repeats, with a hint of incredulity, “the French?” “expensive jewels?”
I didn’t know the song at the time, but recognized it when the chorus came on. (“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”) I wondered what else would come out of my daughter’s mouth as the song continued. And it scared me a little.
When this happened, and it’s becoming more frequent that she repeats what she hears, I was in the middle of reading the book “Plugged-In Parenting: How to Raise Media-Savvy Kids with Love, Not War” by Bob Waliszewski.
Before reading one page, I adopted a “yeah, I’ve heard this before” attitude. I expected the same sort of “blah, blah, blah” arguments I’ve encountered in Christian circles about movies and television and music. I like all of those things, and the idea of limiting what I view has never sat well with me.
Until now.
Although the book is aimed at parents of teenagers or pre-teens, and my kids are 3 and 1 1/2, the author has convinced me (or was it God convicting me?) that I need to seriously consider what I view and listen to, if not for my sake, but for theirs. As a result of me reading this book, my husband and I have already started talking about what needs to change. While we limitedly practice media discernment for ourselves, we could take it farther.
Mr. Waliszewski’s arguments are loving and not condemning, powerfully convincing and backed by statistics. His is certainly not a popular stance, but God does not call us to popularity. He calls us to obedience and holiness.
Thanks to this book, I’m taking another step toward both.
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I received a copy of “Plugged-in Parenting” free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my review.
It’s also on Tyndale’s Summer Reading Program list. Click here to join.
Week 3 of the My Loss Their Gain Campaign. Pounds lost: 0. Pounds gained: 2.5! Blech. Back on the home scale this morning, and while I wasn’t surprised, I was disappointed.
Yes, I made poor eating choices. My youngest was sick, away from home, thus away from our doctor and didn’t sleep well most of the week. Neither did I. So, I compensated with too much coffee, too much Diet Coke and chocolate whenever I could find it. I was on deadline for a writing assignment, too. With the added child sickness stress, I snacked a lot in the afternoon trying to stimulate my brain to function.
The crowning moment of the week, however, was a haircut.
I thought that would be good for a half-pound of weight lost, at least. It’s good for morale, anyway.
The day that most characterized my eating struggles this week was Saturday. I attended a bridal shower (food+cake+punch=full), then joined my parents for a pizza/baseball game trip, where I added to my gluttony. And paid for it later. (Pizza+breadsticks+Diet Pepsi+ice cream+popcorn=becoming too familiar with the guest bathroom when I should have been sleeping. Enough said.)
A long car trip home capped the week.
So, here I am short on sleep, with leftover road snacks in the house, in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store. We’re home for 2 1/2 weeks before we head back to family and friends in Illinois.
And this is what I need to practice before then: self-control. I’m not always going to be able to eat only what I’ve bought in my house or cook the foods that are best for me. We will go out to eat. We will eat at family member’s homes. And even though one friend made concessions with me in mind (thanks for the wheat tortillas!) I don’t expect everyone to do the same.
I will memorize and apply this verse to my eating habits.
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23)
Am I free to eat whatever I want? Yes. Does it benefit me to do so? Is it helping me with my goal? No, on both counts.
Let’s end on a positive note so that my whole week doesn’t seem like a downer: I ran 2 miles on night with my cousin’s wife, something I hadn’t planned for my week but really appreciated. And, my grandma is on board to match my pledge for pounds lost. So now, for every pound I lose, $10 will go to help widows and orphans in Liberia. Great news!
Now, I owe it to them to get back on track.