Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

movies

Saturday smiles – family and friends edition

It’s Christmas Eve. And a Saturday. So, I’m reflecting on all the things that made me smile this week. Being home with family makes the list longer than usual. A good problem to have.

My first one-hour massage. Or any massage for that matter. It was heavenly.

Sherlock Holmes. My husband and I took a date day and saw the second one in the series. Love, love, love.

Dressing alike, unintentionally, and embracing the awkwardness. Hi, we’re the Paisleys.

Buddy day. And watching the next generation of buddies embrace our kids in play and fun. We are blessed with friendships we sometimes take for granted.

Apples to Apples. Best. Game. Ever.

Watching White Christmas with my daughter and my mom. She is the fourth generation of Johnson women to practice this tradition. We’ve added eggnog and Archway cashew nougat cookies to our annual viewing.

Leaving cookies out for Santa.

Meal planning and cooking with my partner in life, love and food. We stocked my sister-in-law’s freezer for worry-free meals after her baby is born, and we planned a holiday lunch for my husband’s family. It was an experimental sort of lunch for us, but thanks to our Food Network viewing habits, it was a success.

My son’s well-timed outbursts. He particularly likes to shout things in church when all is quiet. Tonight, he loudly proclaimed, “I want Mommy to wipe my nose!” and “No, I don’t want to go with Daddy.” Nothing says Christmas Eve candlelight service like a stubborn 2-year-old.

Christmas jammies.

Talking to my nephew, who is yet to be born. And watching our 3-year-old daughter place her hand on her aunt’s pregnant belly and feel her cousin kick. Precious.

Monkey Joe’s.

And an aunt and uncle willing to chase their niece and nephew around the complex and play.

Christmas — merry, indeed.

For my daughter, the sponge

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.

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