Just like my mother...

When I was younger - full of youthful desires and wanting to be trendy- I dared to watch Friends. When it first came out it rocked TV as we knew it b/c it wasn't on HBO but was all about sex - lacking any kind of moral system or sense of principle. My mother would walk into the room while it was on (which it wasn't supposed to be) and I would always think it was just my rotten luck that she walked in at the wrong time b/c something 'bad' would be on - and my mother would exclaim how horrible the show was and turn it off. At the time I understood why she did it and that it was a useless show, but now the implications are made so much more manifest now b/c society has shown itself to be lacking some serious morals in many many areas- and it all started somewhere right? It's all about what we take in then what we do with it without realizing where the breakdown occurred.

Now, my 'entertaining' TV of choice is Law and Order- go figure. I can't watch much more b/c it's either completely devoid of morality or, well, OK, guess there's just not much you can watch these days that you'd watch with the prophet and that's why I make the conscious effort not to get caught up in it and waste my valuable time (i.e. time to myself while Slade is sleeping). Mark walked in the other day while it was on, after taking Slade and our dogs for a walk (when I do my TV watching) and watched it for a moment then made the same exclamation my mother used to. "Honey, this stuff is pure junk and outlandish- why are you entertained by it?" At first I balked against him, can't a girl have some entertainment? But since then I have consciously tracked what I watch and am astounded at the content that is in the programs that I considered more harmless- they are still infiltrated with sex, lies, and all things bad and not praiseworthy. Now that Slade is getting older, I have an obligation to not just not have these things on when he's around, but to not watch them myself - removing the Spirit from our home very unnecessarily.

I'm always surprised by the amount of shows that people tell me they follow and proudly give praise and credit to- not just that the majority of the programs are questionable- but that I can't figure out where they get the time. Any free time I have now I am reading, figuring out how to be a better cook and planner, or being active with the baby (ok, and blogging- darn it if I didn't try to cut blogging out). Where does their time come from and what is the worth of these shows really worth to them? Though, I do admit that I can't seem to place a limit on the amount of news I take in- I must know what is going on, especially as of late. At the gym, in the car, during lunch - Slade will be very likely know who Bill O'Reilly is and what 'No Spin' is before he can formulate an sentence. News is my indulgence and I come by it honestly (my mother was a Rush junkie - every car ride growing up...).

When I was younger I was obsessed with how I looked (granted I was about 50 lbs. lighter then and younger so it was fun to be that way back then) - and thinking often on social things or being trendy. Now as a SAHM, I am anything but trendy and I care less than you can imagine about what people think of me as a person, as a citizen I try my best to do my part and I greatly appreciate it when others do the same, no matter how I view them personally - and I feel I am much more reflective on what needs to change to make me a better person and therefore mother to what will someday, God-willing, be a big family of my own.

We just went over the Be-Attitudes in our Valiant class this last week and the girls had such amazing insight into what we're here to be and accomplish. So many wonderful parents in our ward who try so hard to not let their children be exposed to the ills presented so readily in the media. They do not even allow their children to watch the 'editted' version of these shows. Even when the movies or shows come on regular TV in their editted form- we do not want to support them as we've seen this only propagates more of the like until it gets to the point that it's become 'normal' to us and those with morals are considered out of the norm.

I write this post in one of my forthcoming efforts to encourage others to watch what they watch and who watches them. We ARE in the Last Days (don't forget the prophets would preach for awhile before the tumult really hit, the Lord wants to give us a good fighting chance before he enacts the inevitable). Can we really afford to not use our time most effectively or waste it on things that seek only to remove the Spirit from our lives and the lives of our children? We must expect more from ourselves and those who represent us for the good of our country and brothers and sisters everywhere. The most important part of this equation is our children - they will be the ones who have to go out and make the biggest choices of any generation thus far, how prepared are they going to be by our own hands?

By small and simple things are great things accomplished. One thing follows another - nothing is meaningless to our lives- it will affect us, all of us. Our job, first and foremost, is to choose what we let in and what we let out which will make us who we desire most to be- how we spend our time is who we are and become.

(I just read THIS on Dr. Laura's blog- funny timing huh?)