There are times when Brian and I are considered a little weird even within our Christian-homeschool-conservative circle of friends. We very rarely turn on a TV, we have absolutely no video games or ipods etc in our home, we don't go all out at Christmas, you won't see us at the mall except under extreme conditions, and we plan to never spend a dime at Disney World. Why all the eccentricity?
At the heart of it, we know that our children (and all humans) have only so much brain space. If it's cluttered with the latest movies and video games and desires for all the latest gadgets at the mall and excitement over the latest superhero or Disney princess, where do we fit Jesus in? Do we just add Him in to all the other stuff? "We love Mickey Mouse and Snow White and our ipods and Jesus at our house." Is that really what we want?
No. I don't want to compartmentalize our lives and just have Him be a part of it. I want Him to be the focus, the centerpiece. I have a hard time justifying the glorification of so many other things while saying I want Him to be Lord of all. It seems hypocritical.
The re-election of Obama a few weeks ago actually became the impetus for me to regain focus in this with my children. I realized that our world is really getting darker, and evil was only going to surround my children more in the future than it ever has. I have a unique opportunity as their mother to ground them in truth and refine their focus on the One who really matters. In their adult lives it will matter more if they know the truth of Jesus and hope in the glory of God than if they know the Pythagorean theorum or can speak three different languages. The most important thing I can do for them is arm them with truth. It matters not if I take them to Disney World. Or give them an iphone when they're 14. Or make sure they have the latest pair of jeans. It really doesn't matter at all. If they don't know truth, it will REALLY. MATTER. That's where my focus must be. That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for video games.
Weird? Nah! Beautiful are the feet of them that spread good news. Good news of truth! We turned off the cable about 9-10 years ago. Never took up with video games. We saw too many children that couldn't/wouldn't communicate with people around them and glued themselves to their games. Made themselves islands empty of meaningful relationships. We were concerned that our children would grow up with a void where a loving relationship with their God should be if they filled their lives with tv and video games. Now, we look back to that time and say, "How did we ever get anything accomplished. We spent hours daily watching the idiot box. There are so many meaningful ways to fill our days and hours. So many that we cannot hope to touch on all the ways. And oh, the joy to see God in so many clear and uncluttered ways. I have one question. How do you share your feelings with love so that others will receive it and not feel you are judging them and finding them lacking or that they think that you think you are better than them?
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