My Part of the Conversation

It’s been about since I last posted that I had a good night’s rest.  Finally, I got one last night.

Here’s what’s been going on:

1.  Late one night our  water connection to the refrigerator came off and spewed water all over our wood floor in the kitchen and carpet in 3 rooms.  I spent the next week clearing out all that old flooring.  I spent the next week installing tile with my dad (who flew in from AZ to help me lay 18 inch tiles for a week- Thanks Dad!)

2.  Beach Retreat- I planned a retreat for 75 people at a retreat center in Gulf Shores.  We had a great time, but it was a lot of work.

3.  Hudson’s  Birthday- My little boy turned 4 years old yesterday!  We had a party for him and his little friends last week.  He’s grown up so fast!

4.  Jessie’s Wedding- Kate’s stepsister got married last weekend.  We drove to Tennessee for a few days to celebrate with her and her new husband Jesse.  We had a great time.

5.  Still moving in to our new house. It feels like we’ll never have that place together.  Everything takes twice as much work when you have little ones.  I have no idea how single parents do it.

6.  Saying goodbye to friends.  Several families we’ve been close to are moving this month.  It’s hard to have people step out of your daily life.

Anyway, that’s where I’ve been.  More posts coming soon.

Blaine

We just moved into our new house this weekend. Every time we walk in the door we say, “I can’t believe this is ours!” We’re thrilled to be here. Once it starts being more of a home and less a maze of boxes, think I’ll like it even more.

Now, I just have one question:

Where did all this stuff come from?!!

Yesterday, I went to lunch with one of the college age students.  We went to a nearby Quizno’s to talk and grab something to eat.  It wasn’t very crowded, but soon after we sat down, another family with a load of kids sat at the 2 tables directly behind us.  Kids seemed to be all over the place.  I noticed the dad seemed a little tired, but didn’t think much of it.  I was talking to John when he suddenly froze and said, “Oh, that’s Les Miles!”

I looked back, and sure enough, it was.  Les Miles is the coach of the LSU Football team, and if you have been in a cave for a week, they also won the national championship this year (which was just the night before).   He was grabbing lunch with his wife and kids.  I said, “Wow, today that’s the most important man in Baton Rouge!”  We left him alone, but a few people congratulated him, while another patron asked him how his caps are always so clean (brilliant).

Later that day, I found out they had just come in from New Orleans a few hours earlier, and I saw him on the news in footage from a press conference he had apparently just left when I saw him.  I imagine every sports radio or news columnist wanted to interview him that day, that ESPN, every LSU fan, and every tv station in the nation would love to have a piece of his time that day.

But he was spending it with his kids.  I thought that was pretty cool.

I know I’m overloading you today, but I’m getting to a few things I’ve been wanting to get to for quite some time.

 Below is an article I’m tweaking for a parent newsletter.  What do you think?  I’m also planning preaching a sermon on the 30th that deals with some of the same issues.

What’s shaping them?

For years, churches have been targeting the influences of our culture on our young people.  I’m not sure how many lessons I heard as a teenager on not listening to “bad” music or watching “bad” movies.  I think the bottom line of those lessons still holds true today, that we are influenced by what messages we allow to enter our minds.  However, I think we have been slow to acknowledge where all those messages are coming from- and the rate at which they are coming in.

In the early 90’s there was a lot of discussion about obscenity in music.  Senate hearings and court cases made national news as some albums were banned from distribution.   If you wanted to hear one of these albums, you had to find a friend who had it, or get a copy off the black market.  Nearly twenty years later, that whole concept of banning some type of transferable media seems silly.  With the internet and file sharing services, it’s next to impossible to control the flow media.  Today, almost any type of information, song, or video clip is just a mouse click away.  They can be exposed to anything and everything all at once, if they so choose.  It is no longer easy to regulate what messages teens are getting.  The internet brings all forms of information together, influencing the thoughts and minds of our young people.

Beyond all that, there is even a more pervasive- yet ignored- threat to the minds of our young people: advertising.   According to recent statistics the average American is exposed at least 3500 advertising messages per day!  Actually, for most Americans who spend time on the internet, it is closer to 5000 messages or even higher!

We’ve been sure to talk about the messages in TV shows, but now we’re concerned about the commercials?  Aren’t they just trying to get you to buy a product?  It’s true, many advertisements simply want you to realize when you are out to buy something made by them, that they have the best.  Yet, most advertisements out there are for things we don’t need.  The advertisers then have the challenge of convincing you need something that truthfully, you do not.  To do that, they need to reshape how you see the world.

I hope you catch the significance of that: marketers are purposefully trying to manipulate you and the way you see the world.  At least 3500 times a day, we’re fighting off brainwashers and we don’t even realize it!  Those messages they send are clear: you are only as valuable as what you own, look like, or can do.  God’s Word teaches us our value is simply in being the people God made us to be, and His love comes without condition.  I know many of us adults have trouble sifting through those messages that we should be something else.   How much more difficult is it for teenagers who are developmentally still trying to discover who they are now?

How should you confront this? Awareness is the key.  Evaluate advertisements when you see them, trying to determine what they are trying to tell you about the world.  Sometimes, the messages are harmless.  Other times, they could completely destroy your relationship with God.  Be sure to talk with your teenager about the messages in advertisements and media around them.   Help them develop tools to think through how someone is trying to manipulate them.

And above everything else, counter those false messages with truth.   Spend time with them in prayer and studying God’s Word, and talking about the plans HE has for their lives.  Each message from you carries far more weight than those 1000’s of messages they receive from invisible strangers.

Not in my virtual world, but in the physical world.  Kate and I signed a purchase agreement on a new house and we’ve been busy working on all that.  I’ll try to post some pics soon.  It’s been stealing a lot of my brainpower lately!