I'm sure when you read the blog post title you thought you were going to find me up to my knees in dirt somewhere in the front yard huh? Well I can tell you that that would have been a lot easier then writing this post. This post is a confession of sorts and letting you know what the Lord is doing in our lives right now.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband and daughter went on a Father/Daughter retreat to Callaway Gardens in Georgia, put on by Vision Forum. They had a marvelous time. What I didn't expect is how they would come home feeling. My daughter was completely renewed and refreshed in her walk with the Lord. She quickly isolated movies and took music off her MP3 player that she knew didn't completely glorify the Lord. My husband was ready for change as well and was setting up for a reformation of our family. Me? I was scared to death, at first. It was very overwhelming coming all at once but slowly the Lord started to show me what He had shown them at this retreat.
Let me give you a little background on us as a family. We love the Lord and thought we were putting Him first in our life. We went to church on Sunday, I'd have my devotions in the morning and my husband would have his and then we'd be on our merry way. The Lord convicted my husband about sharing the word diligently with his family and worshiping the Lord as a family. We had been slacking on that and sin started to creep slowly into our house. In what form? Well for the most part in the form of movies we watched. Even before the Lord revealed this to us you wouldn't have found a movie over a PG in our house. But after looking at a lot of these movies with new eyes, things became more evident to us and they were not sitting well with us any more. We used to justify buying a movie if it only misused the Lord's name one or two times because we would just mute or fast forward over it. See how you start compromising? We did this for years. But for us it's time to change.
Now this post isn't about me trying to convict you or change you. That's not my job. This is about what the Lord is doing in our family. I am just being real. I love you gals and you know it. I'm not going to come to your house and do an inventory. LOL! This was not easy by any means for me. I enjoyed these movies for many many years and some for only months. I will be more than happy to explain why we got rid of any one movie if you have a question. I'm sure you will find most of these in households across America, but they will no longer be viewed by ours.
Sin is like weeds, if you ignore it for too long it will start to take over and before you know it you are overtaken with it. Weeding isn't fun work but in order to keep your spirit from getting smothered by it you need to do an inventory of what's in the garden of your heart.
The bible tells us this:
It's not easy living in a world where you are surrounded by sin. Sin is tempting and alluring. Sin is fun and adventurous. That's why we constantly need to put on the armor of God each and every day.
If you've made it this far, thank you for sticking it out. For the next 3 days I will be sharing a few Spring Decorating ideas. So come back and join me. No more heavy stuff for a while! LOL.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband and daughter went on a Father/Daughter retreat to Callaway Gardens in Georgia, put on by Vision Forum. They had a marvelous time. What I didn't expect is how they would come home feeling. My daughter was completely renewed and refreshed in her walk with the Lord. She quickly isolated movies and took music off her MP3 player that she knew didn't completely glorify the Lord. My husband was ready for change as well and was setting up for a reformation of our family. Me? I was scared to death, at first. It was very overwhelming coming all at once but slowly the Lord started to show me what He had shown them at this retreat.
Let me give you a little background on us as a family. We love the Lord and thought we were putting Him first in our life. We went to church on Sunday, I'd have my devotions in the morning and my husband would have his and then we'd be on our merry way. The Lord convicted my husband about sharing the word diligently with his family and worshiping the Lord as a family. We had been slacking on that and sin started to creep slowly into our house. In what form? Well for the most part in the form of movies we watched. Even before the Lord revealed this to us you wouldn't have found a movie over a PG in our house. But after looking at a lot of these movies with new eyes, things became more evident to us and they were not sitting well with us any more. We used to justify buying a movie if it only misused the Lord's name one or two times because we would just mute or fast forward over it. See how you start compromising? We did this for years. But for us it's time to change.
Now this post isn't about me trying to convict you or change you. That's not my job. This is about what the Lord is doing in our family. I am just being real. I love you gals and you know it. I'm not going to come to your house and do an inventory. LOL! This was not easy by any means for me. I enjoyed these movies for many many years and some for only months. I will be more than happy to explain why we got rid of any one movie if you have a question. I'm sure you will find most of these in households across America, but they will no longer be viewed by ours.
Sin is like weeds, if you ignore it for too long it will start to take over and before you know it you are overtaken with it. Weeding isn't fun work but in order to keep your spirit from getting smothered by it you need to do an inventory of what's in the garden of your heart.
The bible tells us this:
Romans 12:2 (New King James Version)
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
It's not easy living in a world where you are surrounded by sin. Sin is tempting and alluring. Sin is fun and adventurous. That's why we constantly need to put on the armor of God each and every day.
Ephesians 6:13-15 (New International Version)
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Here are a couple of great resources for checking out what a movie has in it before you see it or buy it. It goes into details so you aren't taken by surprise.
Plugged in Online and Kids in Mind
If you've made it this far, thank you for sticking it out. For the next 3 days I will be sharing a few Spring Decorating ideas. So come back and join me. No more heavy stuff for a while! LOL.
I too have been convicted of things I watch or books I read and at times music...
ReplyDeleteThree cheers for you and your family!
ReplyDeleteGood for you my friend! It can be hard to do, but when the Lord puts it on your heart, you just do it!
ReplyDeleteNow, I will say we have some of those movies, but on many of them I know exactly why you're getting rid of them. It's all the parts that we pause the movie and talk with our son to ask him what's wrong and why and we discuss it. There are very few movies around that we can go through the whole thing without any pauses sadly.
Went through some changes like that a few years ago with TV watching and then later on getting rid of tons of books that I had collected (mostly Dean Koontz and Stephen King). I'm sure we need a fresh look at everything again. Good to be reminded.
Sounds like such a wonderful conference and you must be so proud of your daughter! I am excited for your family my friend! Thanks for sharing that with us today!
Oh, and that sure is a cute button about a blogaversary party on your sidebar - hee,hee!
And yay for Feedburner numbers being back to normal!
Big Weeding-out-the-movies hugs!
Wow, love this authentic and transparent post! It is so difficult to wade in the world, and entertainment is certainly an area that gets a tight grip on people.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! :)
Girl, I appreciate your transparency. We definitely have a few of those titles in our home. I'm trying to think back through them...Madagascar, the incredibles, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat were your thoughts on those?
Good job Kim and family! It seems my husband and I end up doing an inventory like this every couple of years!
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising how things change as God grows us. As long as we keep moving forward, right? ((hugs))
Wow - We have most of those in our house too.
ReplyDeleteTime to do some spring cleaning.
;-)
Love you, sweet Kim. I love it when you share from your heart, and it is so precious to see...
ReplyDeleteHugs,
LaLee
Good for you and your family! I don't think there is anyone of us that God couldn't do a little revival in...there is always room for improvement. When we allow the small things to creep in, we start to desensitize and then it takes more to shock us...before you know it, we are in way over our heads and have opened the door wide for the enemy to set up camp in our homes.
ReplyDeleteI know that we need to do a little housecleaning and weeding around our home too.
Keep up the good work!
((hugs))
My precious friend....I love to hear how the Lord is working in your life. It's beautiful! Thank you for being so transparent. Thank you for being so honest.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm a big 'fan' of yours...come see what that means! lol
Love ya lots!
i gave up TV for that very reason. Rest of the family is not yet there, but monitoring the things they view is still top priority. Great post.
ReplyDeleteIt is always nice to see a family willing to step outside the box, outside the "norm" to do what they feel is right. I think it is also really refreshing to see your husband being such a leader and example for your children. I am sure you will feel many blessings from your choices and decisions.
ReplyDeleteLove to you and your family.
Had to come back and tell you that I was telling hubby about this and he had a really good suggestion. He thought you should also do a post of what movies you are keeping, as a good example for us!
ReplyDeleteI like that idea - maybe in the future?
Good night (or good morning when you see this) my friend!
Good on ya! DS has never seen any of those. I've only seen Peter Pan and Cinderella, way back when, and bits of the incredibles. HATED the baby thing at the end. Gosh, there are a couple there I've never even heard of, lol! Now I have to say Miracle on 34th Street (the original) used to be one of my top ten favourites. I haven't seen it in a good long while and would love to know your thinking on it. A miracle-performing santa? (We never did the santa thing with ds, either, btw).
ReplyDeleteIdano why, but I've just been unputermotivated the past few days. I think the lieberry spoilt me and the dial-up thrill is way gone. 8-}
Love ya loads!
Have a JESUS-filled day! ^i^
We done this several years ago with some of the movies we had. We still have a lot of the movies that you got rid of like Peter Pan, etc.. so I to would love to know your thoughts on these. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSarah
WOw, I had no idea on some of these! You are right it is easy for sin to slowly creep in. I remember an analogy of how you don't usually just dive into sin. You go in the shallow parts of the water then keep getting deeper and deeper. I think - no, I KNOW I need to go through our collection.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with this constantly but when the whole family isn't on board it is hard to get away from. I'm curious of the classic disney movies and Miracle on 34 street (never had seen it). Would love to see a blog on those because you may point out something that we aren't aware of, aren't those rated G? Please think of doing a future blog on those because you might help alot of families in this area of their lives.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Dana
Good for you for following the conviction that's been placed on your heart! I've had some similar convicitons in the past, but am always at a loss as to what I'm supposed to do with the items I'm getting rid of ... throw them away or donate them. If I throw them away, I'm contributing to the landfills; if I donate them I'm helping an organization earn money, but then am I contributing to someone else going down a wrong path or do I not worry about that and trust that if it were something they needed to be convicted about they would be? Maybe I think too much into it...........
ReplyDeleteBrava! Ya'll took a stand for your family and I think it's awesome. I've been very convicted about the shows I watch on tv and the books I read. It's hard pulling weeds but the sooner you get to weeding, the easier it is. When they're firmly implanted you can hardly get them out!
ReplyDelete