Little Eyes, Soap Operas, and Me

"Oh Be Careful Little Eyes what You See,

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See,

For The Father Up Above Is Looking Down With LOVE,

Oh Be Careful Little Eyes What You See."
Have you ever heard this old Sunday School children's song? It goes on to say, Oh Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear Oh Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say  and then back again to the Eyes. It's a classic Sunday School song that has always stuck with me. This past week I was reminded of this song two times. Once with a boy child, and once with a "woman child in a state of Grace." You see, I had one of those profound moments as a parent where you live out a lesson you yourself learned long ago, only now you are on the other end of the lesson.  When I was a young girl I used to watch Soap Opera's. SHOCK. AWE. GASP. Yes, Soap Opera's were my vice. My all time favorite was Days of Our Lives, and later it was All My Children. I would come home from school everyday and turn on the TV to my favorite Soap, eat my after school snack, and dream about the day that A Knight and Shining Armor would come whisk me off my feet and make passionate love to me. Yep. That was me. Until one day I realized that Soap Operas to a woman are kind of like what Porn is to a Man.  Don't act so surprised, you know it's true. We love the story, the romance, the ultimate drama, and not so much the reality. Ok, now hold on right there. IF you are a grown woman who watches Soaps I mean you no harm.  To each his or her own. But for me, there was a point in time that I distinctly remember realizing that Soaps would no longer be healthy for my life, and for the realities in life so I gave them up. So fast forward almost 20 years and I find myself having to teach my children this lesson of being careful about what they spend their free time watching, reading, and looking at.
You've heard that saying,  "You are what you eat." Well, to me watching and reading is kind of our soul's way of eating. What we watch we digest. What we read we digest. And so I realized that I didn't want to digest SOAP anymore. Are you tracking what I'm laying down? That kind of fantasy life only leads to discontentment with reality.  I wanted contentment. I wanted reality. So I gave up Soap. (I didn't give up soap, like real soap silly. I promise I'm still fresh smelling) I have to admit was a strange thing to return to this lesson as the one on the other side of the fence.  When my children had the reactions they did I was surprised at how attached they were to what they were watching/reading.  There were tears. There were hugs. And ultimately, I hope I portrayed the true heart of God which is that although we won't go to "HELL" for watching things like Soap Opera's it's just not the best use of our time. And, it's kind of like... "Garbage in, Garbage out." (I hate even using that cheesy phrase but it really is so very true) I'm glad that song says, "For the Father up above is looking down with LOVE" because that is also the truth. He doesn't condemn us for these kinds of things that eat up our free time, and are frankly a nice distraction sometimes. I think, He just really longs for that time to be spent with Him. It's a good lesson. It's a good reminder. It's all good.
Happy Monday Beloved Reader.