The Downpour of Worldliness

The other evening while Meggan was at a seminary wives Bible study, Lillian and I were finishing up dinner when all of a sudden I heard this phrase come out of her mouth multiple times: “Oh my Gosh!”  I froze in shock as that phrase is not something Meggan or I ever say, quickly trying to figure out where she learned it.  I didn’t say anything to her about it because I wasn’t sure that if I did it might validate the phrase in her mind as a “no no” and thus tempt her to say it again.  So, instead I distracted her with something else, all the while pondering where she learned that phrase.

To be certain, she has no idea what is behind that phrase.  Her concept of God is pretty much that he made her, loves her, and is the one we thank for our food and day.  So where did she hear that phrase before and why did it stick in her head that way?  Then I figured it out, at least partially.

Lillian loves watching her “shows”.  We have gathered a collection involving everything from Baby Einstein to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  And of all her “shows” (as we call them) her absolute favorites are the Disney shows.  To be more precise, it is the Pixar movies – A Bugs Life, Toy Story, etc.  Her absolute favorite right now is Cars.  That’s right, my 2 year old daughter is obsessed with Cars.  Lighting McQueen, Mater the tow truck, and Sally the sports car are her favorite characters.  She loves to see fire trucks and semis on the highway, and is convinced that daddy drives a race car whenever she rides with me.

We try to limit Lillian on her TV time.  It is the cheapest baby sitter we know of, but we try to make a point of at least watching the movie with her and interact with her while it is playing.  I was watching Cars with her a few weeks ago and noticed at least twice that the phrase “Oh my Gosh” was used.  It caught my attention, but I thought that of all the words and phrases used in Cars, the chances of Lillian catching on to that one is rather slim.  Boy was I wrong.  My best guess as to why that phrase stuck in my little girl’s head is because it is used (in the movie and in real life) to express surprise, and surprises always get our attention. 

I am overwhelmed at the call I have to train my children, how I am to lead and protect my family, when worldliness seeps into our lives wherever it can.  Just as rain faithfully finds the holes in your roof, so does worldliness faithfully find its way into your home.  I can do my best to protect my home, but the reality is on this side of glory that there will always be holes in my roof.

If she were older I would take this opportunity to teach Lillian some principles about right and wrong, as well as how to think as a Christian in the world.  I would and am trying my best to protect our family.  For now,though, I’m forced to just try to distract Lillian from the rain seeping through the roof, hoping she doesn’t get too wet.

bry