Enjoy them

This afternoon as I was making my purchase at a small consignment shop near my home, I chatted with the woman behind the counter. As she looked at my little ones around me, she mused, “Enjoy them…they grow so quickly. I had five, and believe me, they grow up so fast.”

I’ve heard this many times from various women, almost all of them older. As many times as I’ve been admonished of this, I’ve wondered if I’m truly enjoying the time like I should be. I mean, I think I am. I’m not really sure what these women mean by saying this. The mantra “enjoy them”  has been repeated to me so often that I get the impression that not many mothers do enjoy their children while they’re young. Is is even possible?

Let’s face it – young mothers are busy! The stage of raising babies and young children is exceptionally busy. Among the dirty diapers to change, laundry to wash, boo-boos to kiss, millions of little toys to pick up, tears to dry, tantrums to squelch, sibling confrontations to referee and stories to read, there isn’t much time for long-thought-out musings about how much I’m enjoying this stage.

As I thought about this for the remainder of the day, I came to realize that I am indeed enjoying my children and I thought of more ways that I can make this time with them even more profitable.

Realize how special and precious my children are in God’s sight. When I look at my children as unique people that God has created, I am more apt to appreciate them and see their special qualities.

Spend time with them. I don’t mean just “quality time”, but “quantity time”. Maybe this is what the women who tell me this really missed with their children. In our family, we have built into our days different times where our children are close to us doing something special. When we intentionally structure our days to include time together, we are less likely to just skip the parent/child time because of busyness creeping in. Examples of this are morning Bible Time, where we all get to be close together, praying, singing hymns and reading the Bible. The conversations that ensue during that time are often the most precious. Another time that is special is storytime with Daddy. Dan makes every effort to keep this “appointment” with the children every evening at 8:00pm, no matter how busy he is. Other special times include Daddy occasionally choosing a special helper for evening chores. That child gets to go out alone with him to help him and more importantly, talk. One night per week, each of our children have a “special night” with Mom and Dad where they get to stay up 1/2 hour later than everyone else and play a special game or do something fun of their choosing.

Work to cultive active, open relationships with them. I believe that this will, in turn, make them more enjoyable to be around. A major part of this is using the time we have with them to instill God’s Word in word and in deed. 

“You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up  - Deuteronomy 11:19

Whenever someone tells me to watch out because they “grow so fast”, this is the area that I often think of first. I ask myself “Will I use this time wisely to teach them all that I can? By the time they are grown, will I have demonstrated to them mercy, true love and a willingness to admit failures and mistakes? Will I have pointed them to God as their true Helper in life?” Close, loving relationships are founded on unconditional love, which is not possible apart from God.

Touch lovingly. Holding hands during prayer, snuggling close during a story or spending time sitting in bed next to each child before sleep gives a sense of comfort and joy to both me and my children.

Use encouraging words. This is one area where I’m trying to improve on. When I’m busy, I have the tendency to sound more like a drill sargeant then a kind encourager. I know that my relationships with my children will be more enjoyable when words of kindness flow from my mouth. This prayer comes to my lips often:

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. -Psalm 141:3

I hope that when my children are adults, I won’t spend much time wishing that I’d enjoyed them more as children. Instead, I hope that I’ll be able to continue the benefits of lasting relationships that were started and cultivated in childhood.

How about you? Did you enjoy your children when they were young? If you have young children, how do you intentionally enjoy and fill these moments that you have with them?

Photographs: A summer treasure shared; a serious conversation with a 2 year old; a new bundle to snuggle

Children: Blessing or drain?

I heard an amazing comment at a gathering awhile ago. It was in response to my mother asking a young newly married man how many children he and his wife would like to have. He responded that they would love to have many children, but they weren’t sure with how bad things are today.

When I asked him whether he meant the financial burden of raising children or the evil world we live in, he said both. He went on to explain:

You see, back in Bible times, it was an agricultural society, so children WERE a blessing back then. They actually contributed to the family income. Today, there just aren’t enough jobs for people, because so many jobs are service jobs instead of industry jobs.

He was quick to add:

Of course, we still think children are a blessing. I mean, we love them and everything – but they aren’t a blessing in the same way [note by me: and therefore, should be limited].

At that moment in time, I chose not to address his issue about children being a financial burden, but rather chose to focus on the issue of bringing children into the evil society that we live in, as it seemed more important to me at the moment.

I wonder how you would have responded to this young man and his claim that children are more of a drain (financially) on families than a blessing in our modern society.

Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

A simpler life

Dan and I have been pondering and discussing the concept of a “simpler life” for several years now. While I’m not sure we can define it clearly, it contains the following ideas:

• less stuff
• less reliance upon others for things we could just as easily do ourselves (thus eliminating quite a bit of shopping and driving)
• more space to witness and experience God’s creation – after all, this is one of the big ways in which He reveals Himself to mankind
• more time for the everlasting things – relationships with our family members and neighbors
• more time for thinking – meditating on Scripture or spending time in prayer
• preparing and eating more simple meals – just plain ‘ole food – made to taste good with natural flavorings like herbs and spices

I recently found a book on our shelf that I had purchased at a library book sale, but had never read entitled The Seasons of America Past by Eric Sloane. While it provides a fascinating look at the month-by-month seasonal activities of early American families, the first two chapters entitled “Speeding up the Seasons” and “Agrarian Kindergarten” offered the most thought-provoking ideas for me personally.

Mr. Sloane talks about how we’ve lost the rhythm of seasons in our modern society. He doesn’t mean the 4 seaons – spring, summer, fall, winter – but a season as defined by early American dictionaries:

season: 1. a time to every purpose (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

               2. one of the quarters of the year 

In Noah Webster’s first dictionary, published in 1828, he defined “season” simply as “a fit time”, completely leaving out the other part of the definition.

A time (season) for everything is quite foreign to us today. We eat fresh watermelon in January and go to an indoor ice-skating arena in August. The anticipation and ensuing enjoyment of each season’s unique activities and foods is lessened when we can have anything, anywhere, at any time, don’t you think? By trying to live a ”simpler life”, we are, in essence, trying to put things back into their proper seasons. We are attempting to learn how to experience things in their real context, not in an artifically manufactured one.

Mr. Sloane also talks about our fast-paced society and the perceived benefits thereof. But what about the detrimental effects? Are there any?

Another sad thing about unnaturally rapid progress is that it so often results in actual regression.  When any group progresses as whole, there becomes less apparent need for individual intelligence. By having others think for us and design our work and pleasure, we now live comfortably without certain knowledges that only a century ago were essential. In losing our need to know so many things, our list of general knowledge has at last become exceedingly small; it equips us well for business, less well for the sciences, and very poorly for living the full life.

- The Seasons of America Past, page 15

I know that some people dismiss the idea of  trying to pursue a “simpler life” for various reasons, including:

1. It’s  just a romantic idea
2. It’s too much work
3. It’s too boring
4. It’s eccentric to do so (Ok, let’s just say it – it’s WEIRD)

But lately I’ve been seriously pondering this question: what advantage we have given ourselves (and our children) by living a fast-paced, highly processed-fast food, entertainment saturated life? I don’t think in and of itself there is anything sacred or elite about trying to live a “simpler life”. However, when you begin to subtract the above mentioned things that can be detrimental to a person’s well-being, by default you end up living one. Either something has to seep in and fill up the void left by those other things (such as other pursuits/hobbies in place of entertainment) or something additional must be done (preparing your own meals). This really is how a “simpler life” has come about in our family.

To us, choosing a “simpler life” does not mean that we turn our noses up at modern conveniences or things like medical assistance. Personally, I don’t want to be like a pioneer woman who has to draw my household water from the creek!

We all have to do something with the allotted time given to live our lives. Most of us in America do things with an intended outcome of finding or experiencing “happiness”. After all, our own Declaration of Independence tells us that we have the right to the “pursuit of happiness”!

But could it be that the “pursuit of happiness” means something different to Americans now than it did in earlier times? Eric Sloane offers this:

Then ["happiness"] meant “blessedness”, or “a state of satisfaction or contentment”, but now it suggests fun. The “pursuit of happiness” which we accept as an American heritage is, it seems, too often mistaken for a pursuit of fun.

…Carl Sandburg [said] that “Never was a generation…told by a more elaborate system of the printed word, billboards, newspapers, magazines, radio, television – to eat more, play more, have more fun.” This, we are led to believe, is an American way, and a recipe for contentment.

- The Seasons of America Past, p. 8

Dan and I have asked ourselves this question:

“Does our lifestyle produce an atmosphere where contentment and happiness are actually possibilities and not just rainbows to chase?”

Although true happiness and contentment ultimately come from our relationship with God, we’re finding that when we are able to unplug from the messages of discontentment that we are constantly bombarded with in this world, we are afforded a more fertile ground for this happiness to flourish.

Photos: Dan working in the yard this summer; a walk in a nearby state game area

(I just figured out how to link my pictures so that when you click on them, you can see them bigger. Just so you know. )

Do you Facebook?

I’ve had a Facebook account for a few weeks now so that I can stay in touch with my out-of-state brother and sister. It doesn’t have anything cool on it – not even a picture of myself.

To be totally honest, I haven’t added any pictures because I don’t really want anyone to recognize me and add me as a friend…

It’s not that I’m anti-social. A few years ago, I had a MySpace account, with which I was able to catch up with many of my long-lost acquaintances. Unfortunately, I soon grew weary of the limited way of communicating that seems to come with a MySpace account. I also got tired of the horrible advertisements that I had to look at whenever I went to sign in. Several other reasons all added up to my cancelling my account.

When I opened my FB account a few weeks ago, I didn’t go searching for people that I know. I didn’t want to get involved in the whole social networking thing again. I only have about 4 or 5 friends ((waves to them)). However, this past weekend, I somehow or another wound up surfing through my friends’ friends, friends, friends lists – you know how that goes if you have FB – and it seems like EVERYONE THAT I KNOW has a FaceBook account!

I found several people on there that I was never able to find on MySpace that I would love to take a peek at and see how they’re doing. 

The “problem” with Facebook is that you have to be listed as a friend of the person to view their profile and pictures. So, I can’t just be nosy and look at pictures of old high school friends, for example.

So, I’m in a quandry. Do I get all involved in Facebook like I did in MySpace? Is it worth it to spend all sorts of time adding pictures and information to my profile, adding people to my friends list, writing on their wall and exchanging trite little messages back and forth? I regret the amount of time that I spent wasted when I had a MySpace account, even though it was GREAT to catch up with a certain few people.

Or should I just let those people who have slipped through the cracks of time in my life well alone? (i.e., not be so nosy!)

What do you think? Do you have a Facebook account? Do you think it’s worth spending time on? Why or why not?

The big things

Considering how many big issues are swirling around the country this fall, you might wonder why I don’t talk too much about them on this blog. I know that many people are very concerned about the state of things here in the U.S. I share the concerns of many of you. I stand in awe as things continue to deteriorate before our very eyes. It’s so easy to get caught up in the all of the news headlines, even if you don’t watch the news. People are talking, talking, talking – everywhere you go.

Although I have been praying fervently about the different issues, I then leave them with God to focus on smaller things.

Little things in life may seem less significant with all the problems we face today, but I believe that they can be some of the most important. Things like loving those who treat me wrongfully, reaching out with a good attitude when I’m having a bad day, teaching my children how to put others first, and learning to be patient in trials. Things like studying God’s creation to know Him better and finding things to be thankful for in each and every moment. Things like nurturing relationships with my husband and children, with my parents and church family, with my neighbors and friends. These little things all add up to big things over time.

Sometimes I doubt my approach when people start (eloquently) wringing their hands about the troubled times in which we live. Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to get into all the political/social/theological debates that are circling around out there. Maybe I should focus on these issues more.

It’s just that I can’t help but thinking about the fact that evil has been in the world ever since the beginning of time. Of course, things are going to get exponentially worse, but things have pretty much remained the same for followers of God -

What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

Loving others, glorifying God and growing in character are things that will last eternally. When all the current issues have passed us by, what will remain? Our relationship with God and man – love – and essence of who we are – our character.

I don’t want to negate Christians who speak out on the big issues. After all, many of them are so much more articulate than I am.

Personally, I have chosen to try and take a simpler path. After all, I only have so much time in each day and I have a choice as to what I will spend that time thinking about. Am I alert to the trends in our society? Yes. Do I speak the truth in love when asked about issues by my friends and relatives? Yes. Do I wring my hands? I try not to. It’s scary sometimes, especially when our country’s political and social issues impact us personally. I choose instead to continually refocus on God, as He is the one in control.  If I focus on the things our Lord has given us to do, I know that I will be pursuing thoughts that are worthwhile.

And in the end, it may turn out that the little things that we thought were insignificant are actually the big things!

[If you ever feel like you need some encouragement in focusing on the little things, stop by Eyes of Wonder. Every time I visit there, I come away with a better focus. I'm so thankful that Jewels shares the ways she peacefully and lovingly takes care of her family while resting on God's care for her.]

Book Review: The Feminine Mystique

(I wrote this book review one year ago for another blog)

I have just finished reading the book The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. This book was written in 1962 and has been referred to as the book that “pulled the trigger on history”. 

Today there is a war raging- the so-called “mommy wars” between working and SAHMs (stay-at-home mothers). However, many women who have chosen a career in precedence to family are now finding that the choice they made hasn’t necessarily fulfilled them. Why did they think that it would fulfill them in the first place? This was the question I hoped to answer by reading this book. I wanted to see where today’s views of womanhood and motherhood had come from. Why was it that, in the early 60’s and 70’s, so many women left the sphere of the home, leaving their children to be raised by others?

Ms. Friedan made the basic assumption from her “research” that American housewives were not happy in the late 50’s. Even though today we may look back at the 50’s as a time where the nuclear family was thriving and happy, she tries to prove that the picture of that time was deceiving. In her view, women weren’t actually happy at home – it was all a façade. In fact, they were “tired”, “unfulfilled” and “desperate”. She called it “the problem with no name” for millions of American housewives. Her book became enormously popular as women all across America read it and identified with this “problem”. Why was it that “Occupation: Housewife” was not fulfilling these women?

Well, Friedan gives us the answer – at least the one that made the most sense to her at the time. It was because these women weren’t contributing something meaningful to society. They weren’t growing to their full potential as human beings. They were instead, trying to find happiness by living through their children and husband.

After many chapters of depicting housewives as sorry, pathetic, depressed creatures who are manipulated very wrongly by society (i.e. men), she gets to the crux of the matter: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—Self Actualization. She stipulates that as human beings, we have moved beyond the point where all of our time need be focused on the basic needs of food, clothing and s*x. We are free to move on to the “higher” levels of being.

She saw the American housewife as stuck in the endless cycle of trying to fulfill those basic needs. These women are doing the tasks that could be done by the “feeble-minded” and in so doing, were staying on the bottom rung of life. She believed that women were trapped in a “comfortable concentration camp” (her very words). In addition to not being a meaningful part of society, she believed that these housewives were actually contributing to all sorts of problems with children in the society. She makes outrageous claims about autism, homos*xuality, and childhood delinquency – linking these problems to the fact that too much motherly love (smothering) causes such problems in children.

Her solution to the problem of unhappy housewives? Educate yourself. By doing so, you free yourself to become a useful member of society. All of those unhappy feelings will magically go away. All of the desperation, depression and anger will subside as soon as you begin to contribute to the world around you.

How many women have bought into this line of thinking since this book was first published?

It was quite interesting to read The Feminine Mystique right on the heels of another book Home Alone America: The Hidden Toll of Day Care, Behavioral Drugs, and Other Parent Substitutes by Mary Eberstadt (2004). In HAA, Eberstadt goes through several problems with today’s children – obesity, deficit disorders, violence, early s*xuality, etc – and tries to show how these problems stem from mothers being absent from the home.

These books are similar in that they both try to make mothers feel like they are unfulfilled in some respect. Friedan tries to convince women that if only they work and be part of society will they be fulfilled. Eberstadt tries to convince women that if only they stay home and raise the family they have, will they be fulfilled by taking good care of their children.

I offer that both women are wrong.

It’s amazing that through the decades since the 1920’s, women have been on this pendulum of “finding fulfillment”. Today we are seeing more career women who are finding that they are not really fulfilled with being the CEO of a company or making great advancements in education. They have left those positions, hoping to find more fulfillment at home. But once they go home, what if they don’t find the fulfillment there, either? What is a woman to do?

The search for happiness and fulfillment is a universal feeling. (Ironically, Friedan says that someone can “feel” happy, but that it doesn’t necessarily mean that person is fulfilled. Huh?)  Friedan thought she had found the end to this search in her own life and wanted to lead other women to this path of self-actualization. The women who bought into her book thought they, too, could finally answer the question of happiness. Today we are seeing the result of women leaving the home in ways that I’m not sure that Friedan could anticipate.

My question is: How does one truly find happiness and fulfillment?

Is it found in the serving and building up of one’s self or of others?

Is it found by simply changing from one sphere (the home) to another (the workplace) or vice versa?

Role Models for Girls – Part 2

Read Part 1 here 

In our highly technological age, we have the ability to see how everyone else lives and thinks. Through the eyes of television, movies, the Internet, radio and magazines, we are exposed to an amazing amount of opinions. A girl can very easily find any type of role model that she relates to. Before this technological age, what choices did girls/young women have for role models? Why, the people in their immediate family and those in the community around them, of course! A young girl could look up to an older sister, her mother, aunts or grandmother. Perhaps she would look up to her teacher at school or a kind neighbor. Peers might become friends, but when it came to looking forward, the women in their lives were their models.

It seems to me that young girls today often look up to other girls (teens or young adults) as role models. Is that what they are aspiring to be – a famous teenager? Is that as far as they are looking into the future?

If a girl or young woman has the desire to have a quiet and meek spirit (I Peter 3:4) or to be a homemaker (Titus 2:5) when she grows up, to whom can she turn for a role model?

Ideally, she can look to her own mother and other relatives. This is a great responsibility that is placed on a mother and that has been neglected to varying degrees in today’s culture. Since when did parents cease to be role models for their children? A girl should also be able to look up to women in her church. Unfortunately, sometimes church ladies are often too closely mirroring the world to be good role models.

Obviously, a girl’s age has a great deal to do with this issue. Once a girl reaches a certain age, she will choose for herself what people she will look up to and often that person will be beyond her immediate family. That’s why the groundwork must be laid by her parents when she’s very young.

Last year, I read an excellent book entitled Raising Maidens of Virtue: A Study of Feminine Loveliness for Mothers and Daughters by Stacy McDonald. This book gave a very balanced approach to the struggle to remain a virtuous young woman in today’s society. I plan to go through this study with our own daughters when they’re older. However, the principles in the book are ones that we can begin to instill now. If our daughters have a firm grasp on what God desires for them as young women, they will hopefully gravitate toward role models who are living that lifestyle as they grow.

As I was pondering this topic, I came across an article on the Ladies Against Feminism website entitled “Our Ministry of Mentoring“. The author, Ms. Klein, talks about being a mentor to young women. She stresses that all of us as Christian women should make ourselves available to teach women younger than ourselves. It is a worthwhile read! [Edited to add: Ms. Klein wrote a second part to this article. You can read it here.]As a mother, it would be wise for me to point my daughters in the direction of good mentors who are willing to communicate with them. 

One place to find such mentors is the Internet. I’ve come across several very nice websites out there by young Christian ladies who are attempting to mentor other young women. One such website is Visionary Daughters. 

I have already begun to pray for good role models to present themselves to our girls as they grow. Of course, I also pray for grace and wisdom that I might become their best role model, too. It is a great responsibility to be a role model for someone else.

I believe that it is our responsibility as parents to guard our girls from bad influences, but it is equally important to expose them to good influences! There are so many people and philosophies out there ready and willing to influence them if we will not.

What do you think? Does it matter who a girl’s role model is? Who do your daughters look to as role models?

Role Models for Girls – Part 1

A long time ago, I wrote a post entitled “Little Girls“. In it, I talked about how I believe that little girls are pushed to grow up too quickly in today’s society and what Christian parents can do about it.

I wanted to discuss something along the same vein as it something that concerns me a great deal – that is, the subject of role models for girls today.

I try and keep my eye on the horizon for what types of role models are/will be out there for my daughters. Now, obviously, there are many teens and women in the entertainment industry that I would not even consider to be good role models. But what about the “squeaky clean” ones?

From what I’ve seen and heard, one of the most popular icons for girls today is Hannah Montana. She is seen by many as a good role model for girls in an increasingly negative entertainment industry.

Hannah Montana is the star of a Disney TV show about an average girl (Miley) who lives a double life as a pop star (Hannah Montana).   Miley has just turned 15 years old and is extremely popular with girls ages 5 up through “tween” age. She has been touring around the country with her “Best of Both Worlds” tour where she sings as both Hannah and herself (Miley).

      

After researching her on her official websites, I turned to Plugged In Online, a website for Christian reviews on today’s music and movies. 

Here’s what Plugged In had to say about her Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus album, which was #1 for a long time. This portion of the review is under the “pro-social content” section:

Cyrus projects a healthy sense of self, realizing she has special qualities (“Rock Star”) yet noting that the “real me” can’t be found in the glitz and glamour (“Old Blue Jeans”). She appreciates being loved for who she truly is (“As I Am”) and demands respect from boys (“Clear”). Other songs celebrate friendship (“Right Here,” “You and Me Together,” “True Friend”) and get giddy over innocent romantic feelings (“One in a Million,” “Bigger Than Us”). “I Miss You” is a sweet tribute to a grandfather who passed away. On “Make Some Noise” Cyrus urges fans to be themselves, speak out and take risks that will help them develop their true potential. Similarly, she tells a melancholy individual, “Life’s What You Make It” (“With a new attitude, everything can change”). Rather than beat herself up over mistakes, the singer acknowledges that “Nobody’s Perfect” (“Everybody has those days … you live and you learn it”).

Read the full review here.

Sounds great, right? I went and checked out the lyrics for some of the songs mentioned in the review. First, one of the songs touted by the reviewer as describing “innocent romantic feelings” has these lyrics:

One In A Million

How did i get here
I turned around and there you were
Didn´t think twice or rationalize
Cause somehow i knew
That there was more than just chemistry
I mean i knew you were kind of into me
But i figured it´s too good to be true

I said pinch me, where´s the catch this time
Can´t find a single cloud in the sky
Help me before i get used to this guy

Chorus:

They say that good things take time
But really great things happen in a blink of an eye
Thought the chances to meet somebody
Like you were a million to one
Can´t believe it
You´re one in a million

All this time i was looking for love
Tryna make things work that weren´t good enough
Till i thought i´m through, said i´m done
Then stumbled into the arms of the one

You´re making me laugh about the silliest stuff
Say that i´m your diamond in the ruff
When i´m mad at you; you pull out your velvet gloves

I feel drunk but i am sober
And i´m smiling all over
Every time i see that sparkle in your eyes

(Repeat chorus)

From another song, praised for its message to help girls develop their true potential:

Make Some Noise 

Don’t let anyone
Tell you that you’re not strong enough
Don’t give up
There’s nothing wrong with just being yourself
That’s more than enough

So come on and raise your voice
speak your mind and make some noise
And sing
Hey, hey
Make some noise
Hey, hey, yeah

You want to be known
You want to be heard
And know you are beautiful
You have so much to give
Some change you wanna live
So shout it out and let it show

You have a diamond inside of your heart
A light that shines bright as the stars
Don’t be afraid to be all that you are
You’ll be fine

Hannah is popular with even very young girls. Here’s an article from Fox News about a mom who wrote a false essay for her 6-year old daughter so she could win concert tickets to “realize her dream to see Hannah Montana”.

Now, I’d like you to imagine that you’re a 6 year old girl at this concert where Miley is singing her popular song “G.N.O. (Girls Night Out)”, in which she sings

G.N.O. (Girls Night Out)

Don’t call me
Leave me alone
Not gonna answer my phone
Cuz I don’t
No I won’t see you

I’m out to have a good time
To get you off of my mind
Cuz I don’t
And I won’t need you
(hooo-hooo)

Send out a 911 (hooo-hooo)
We’re gonna have some fun (hooo-hooo)
Hey boy, you know
You better run

CHORUS
Cuz it’s a girl’s night
It’s alright without you
I’m gonna stay out
And play out without you
You better hold tight
This girl’s night is without you
(hooo-hooo)
Let’s go
G.N.O.(hooo-hooo)
Let’s go
G.N.O.(hooo-hooo)
Let’s go
G.N.O., let’s go
It’s a girl’s night

Verse 2
I’ll dance with somebody new
Won’t have to think about you
And who knows
What let go will lead to

You’ll hear from everyone (hooo-hooo)
You’ll get the 411 (hooo-hooo)
Hey boy
You knew this day would come

Hey boy
Don’t you wish you could have been a good boy
Try to find another girl like me, boy
Feel me when I tell ya
I am fine
And it’s time for me to draw the line 

If nothing else, at least watch the first 20 seconds of the video. It’s amazing to see the little tiny girls on the video screaming with excitement over Miley. I wonder if they even know what she is singing about?

Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not judging this girl’s personal character because I don’t know her personally. In fact, I read an article from Christianity Today magazine which portrays her and her family as Christians. I’m just analyzing the image that she portrays by her clothing and song lyrics. 

Just because Hannah Montana is on the “clean” end of the spectrum, does that make her a good role model?

In the entertainment industry, it’s all relative.

As parents of daughters, we need to look at our long-term goals for them and then see if the entertainment that we’re willingly allowing their minds to feed on is moving them toward those goals or away from them.

My goals for Abigail and Iliana do not include any of the following:

• Dressing provocatively
• Being involved romantically at the junior high or high school age when they are not even considering marriage
• Proclaiming boldly their special uniqueness and self-reliance
• Seeking after material things at all costs
• Pursuing the lifestyle or career of a music celebrity

Why then, would I let them look up to this girl as a role model?

The definition of a role model is:

n. A person who serves as a model in a particular behavioral or social role for another person to emulate.

If I have a particular behavioral or societal role that I want my daughters to emulate, I should point them to a model for that behavior. Who is/are good role models for Christian young women today? 

How about female athletes, such as Serena Williams, Danica Patrick, or Maria Sharapova?

How about strong women leaders, such as Condoleezza Rice or Hilary Clinton?

How about women who are making great strides in medicine or technology?

Who should a Christian girl look up to as a role model?

I don’t necessarily have a good answer for this question, but it’s one that’s been weighing on my mind lately. In Part 2 of this post, I’ll give you what conclusions I’ve come to and would also love to hear your input as well.