Becoming the "New Mommy"
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"Mommy, but I loooove this rainbow shirt!" my five-year-old daughter howled as we prepared to leave for church. "You always let me wear it before! You didn't care if I showed my belly then!"
"Cheyenne, we want to dress our best when we go to Jesus' house," I replied. "Ladies do not show off their bellies. This is something that Mommy just learned. Can you please pick out a different shirt for me?"
Sullen, Cheyenne dragged her feet to her room to change. I let out a deep breath, knowing I had barely averted a full-blown tantrum. Cheyenne and I had fought several similar battles after I had become a Christian. Like a light switch, God's truth had clicked in my heart, and he was convicting me and showing me the godly way to raise my daughter.
Literally overnight, her world had been turned upside down. Suddenly I had laid down strict new rules and introduced different routines—because my heart had changed. Cheyenne now had a different mother. The old Mommy was gone; the new Mommy had come. I was a new creation!
No longer was Cheyenne allowed to wear bikinis or belly shirts. We took the TV out of her room and outlawed some of her favorite shows, like SpongeBob SquarePants.
Sure, Cheyenne loved many of the positive changes in me and in our family. My husband and I had become more focused and attentive parents. But at the same time, in her five-year-old mind she struggled to understand why some things she had once enjoyed were no longer okay.
For me, parenting as a Christian has been a radically different experience from my parenting before I knew Christ. God has altered my desires, goals, and values. He has revealed to me areas of sin and weakness in myself as well as areas in which I needed to make immediate changes for the sake of my family.
Parenting is never an easy task, but God will always be with you and me, giving us wisdom and strength for the journey. He says, "I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you' " (Isaiah 41:13).
In Romans 8:31, the apostle Paul asked, "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" The answer: no one! God is our powerful parenting partner, and he has given us the best parenting advice ever—in the Bible.
God's Standards versus the World's Standards
Before you and I committed our ways to Christ, we thought in terms of creating and living by a personal set of values. We knew that what worked for one family may not work for ours, so we took bits and pieces of what was important to us and created our family value system.
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Becca47
I watch Spongebob every day with my kids (and I mean watch it, not just have it on in the background while I'm doing the dishes) and I have no idea what "innuendos" you could mean ~ they may have shown his bare bottom a couple of times (oops I ripped my pants!) and the episode where he went "au natural" (to live "in nature" with the jellyfish he loves so much) but never in any sexual way (he is, after all, a sponge, and as such is without sexual organs of any kind.) "Nudity" in that context (and I hesitate to use that word, because again, he is a sponge) is not sexual, just underlining the "innocence" of childhood (like naked babies.)
Lisa
It's been a while since I've seen it. I don't remember it not being kid-friendly. I remembering cracking up at the ep where he kept missing the bus. Thanks for answering!
Joy777
Outlawing Spongebob!? Seems a bit extreme... there are actually a lot of virtues to be learned from Spongebob and I've often used him as an example in 2nd grade Sunday School because the kids could relate to him ~ a good work ethic (he loves his job at the Krusty Krab even if he's "just" a frycook, positive attitude (he does his best even if others think his job is lowly) loving thy neighbor even when they're difficult (Squidward) or just plain stupid (Patrick), perseverence (still trying to learn to drive despite many many failures.) Some of the best episodes are themed, ie, to show the stupidity of taking drugs (see the episdoe "playing hooky") and extreme risk-taking (not following the crowd when you know they're doing something dumb.) 5 year olds just enjoy the silliness of it all, but once they get a little older (and even after they're in college as my kids are now) they will still enjoy it (those lessons are sinking in whether they know it or not.)
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