Sunday, August 27, 2006
I made a mistakeWe have the privilige of living in an area where there is a local drive-in movie theatre. We love to go... we pull the back seat out of the van and bring some blankets, put the kids in their jammies and watch a movie while they play around and eventually fall asleep in the back. Oftentimes, there's a kiddy movie first then a more adult movie for the second feature (when little ones will have dozed off). Great, family fun all-in-all.
Last night we made the mistake of going to see a movie without doing our research. I should have known better though, considering who the lead actor was. We figured the kids would fall asleep soon anyway, so a couple swear words until then would fly right by them. Bad call. It took a good hour for them to doze off.
As we sat and watched this particular movie, my husband and I were both ashamed as some of the foul language came up and suggestive motions. Kids don't necessarily understand every innuendo, but they are little sponges in a big way. The worst part is that I always pray for their innocence... though I suspect some exposure to the dirtier things in life are inevitable as they grow up.
The inexcusable thing was willfully putting our children in a situation that compromised their spiritual health! (The movie turned out awful anyway and even us adults felt like it was a worthless two hours... would've left had we not been tempted by the promising double feature right afterwards) The more I thought about this late last night and early today, the worse I feel. Doesn't the Bible warn us about causing little ones to sin?! Not just that, but the biggest problem is that I feel like we failed God in one way. Our children are on LOAN to us. They are not ours. They have been entrusted to our care for the primary purpose of raising them to know, love, and serve God in this life and the next. Period. It's like leaving your kids to a babysitter and upon return finding them filthy, and unfed and spouting out colorful words you hoped they'd never learn. Wouldn't you be angry and feel like your trust was betrayed?! And so I feel this way with my Savior. I'm putting this out in the public in hopes to remind all of us that we have been entrusted with a great responsibility with our children. I thank God for the confessional... and also that I don't have to face Padre Pio in there! (j/k)
-Ellie
Labels: Reflections
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2:24 PM ::
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