Music has been a large part of society from the earliest of times. Each generation thinks that theirs was real music. I sit here listening to my 80's music. Enjoying the heavy rock rhythms. I forgot how much I enjoy listening to the music of my youth. As I got older, the music of my youth was replaced with Barney singing "I love you, you love me". Not horribly upsetting but yet a reality of life. My second oldest daughter recently came to me and said they were having an 80's themed prom. I got excited!
Music has incredible power to move people in many different ways. Many people today find great hope and consolation in listening to christian music. Others listen to some of the more violent rap music and say they are stirred to violence because the "music made me do it". Songs that speak of promiscuous living; sex, drugs and over indulgence of other kinds often help people justify that type of behavior.
Maybe that is my real point in all of this. Media; from songs to TV to movies have great effect on us and help shape our social norms. For example, TV in the 50's never showed people in bed together. In fact, it always showed married couples as sleeping in separate beds. Now, showing people in bed is nothing. As people in the media continue to push the social boundaries we get used to them and accept them as the "norm". Our challenge is to fight society and the media. If enough people will say no to watching or listening to this "stuff" then it just might move to a return to a simpler and more moral time.
I will definitely not say that the music of the 80's was the epitome of moral goodness(far from it) but it is better than most of the stuff that is out there today.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I Wanna Know What Love Is
The title is from a very popular song from the 80's by Foreigner. I grew up in the 70's and 80's. It was the era of "sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll". Our society was going through a period of "free love." What they really meant was a promiscuous era of free sex. I never really knew what love was and the few ideas that I had were pretty screwed up. I believe all people are built with the desire for "real love," the type of love that can only come from relationship with God. Unfortunately, most people only grasp what they learn from society. We substitute God's love for love of possessions, love of money, and the physical manifestation of love -- sex.
In 1988, I decided to begin a journey to find out what love was. That journey started with a desire to get myself to church and quick. I started attending the Lutheran church (where I was baptized as an infant). It was as if God was instantly rewarding me, I met a beautiful girl and got married in August of 1988. On Easter 1989, I was confirmed into the Catholic Church. I was starting to understand what real love was but I was still missing the boat, fighting off some old habits and misconceptions.
Some years later, I remember the day I prayed specifically to God to fill me in on this “love thing.” I was going to a pro-life meeting at the church. I got there a few minutes early and received a very strong response from God. It was like someone turning the light on and talking to me like they were trying to wake me up. The message was, "Hey, I sent you four teachers, what else do you want?” I knew in an instant the four teachers He was referring to were my four daughters. You see, most of the misconceptions I had about love centered around my relationships with women. My wife and four young daughters were definitely good examples of what love was supposed to be. It seemed pretty ironic that the teachers he sent were females, the very source of my problem.
I am still on the journey. I understand better each day. I now have 6 children. You see, as part of my “love” training God blessed me with two more children. My youngest child, a daughter, demonstrates to me on a daily basis what love is about as she runs up to me, jumps into my arms and says, “I just love my Daddy.” I can just imagine Jesus standing there waiting for me to run, jump and tell Him that I love Him. No grudges, no conditions, just love -- freely given.
In 1988, I decided to begin a journey to find out what love was. That journey started with a desire to get myself to church and quick. I started attending the Lutheran church (where I was baptized as an infant). It was as if God was instantly rewarding me, I met a beautiful girl and got married in August of 1988. On Easter 1989, I was confirmed into the Catholic Church. I was starting to understand what real love was but I was still missing the boat, fighting off some old habits and misconceptions.
Some years later, I remember the day I prayed specifically to God to fill me in on this “love thing.” I was going to a pro-life meeting at the church. I got there a few minutes early and received a very strong response from God. It was like someone turning the light on and talking to me like they were trying to wake me up. The message was, "Hey, I sent you four teachers, what else do you want?” I knew in an instant the four teachers He was referring to were my four daughters. You see, most of the misconceptions I had about love centered around my relationships with women. My wife and four young daughters were definitely good examples of what love was supposed to be. It seemed pretty ironic that the teachers he sent were females, the very source of my problem.
I am still on the journey. I understand better each day. I now have 6 children. You see, as part of my “love” training God blessed me with two more children. My youngest child, a daughter, demonstrates to me on a daily basis what love is about as she runs up to me, jumps into my arms and says, “I just love my Daddy.” I can just imagine Jesus standing there waiting for me to run, jump and tell Him that I love Him. No grudges, no conditions, just love -- freely given.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Living Below Your Means
I think our society over the last 40 years has been in a practice of living at or above our means. That has finally come to bite us in the behind. What you are seeing now is a return to how people lived in the 50's and 60's. The idea that a person might have to "save up" to purchase something was a concept that was both foreign and repulsive to most people in America. The events of the last couple of years has produced a return to more traditional values. I think this is a good thing.
I guess I was lucky that my father from early on instilled on me these "old fashioned" values. The ideas of working for what you want and that you might have to save up to purchase something or, heaven forbid, sacrifice something. These are now carrying over into my family. I think that I have attempted to move this to a new level in my life and this is what I wish to talk about here.
My walk with Christ has led me on a path to truly examine my priorities and to let Christ guide my purchasing. I think I will start with a little history to explain this. My wife and I got married in 1988. At the time we both made approximately the same salary. As with most newlyweds, we dreamed of having children and buying a house. After about a year of marriage we became pregnant. The time to purchase a house had come. To qualify to buy a house we needed both incomes but because we had talked about it we made sure we purchased a house that we could afford on my income alone. This way we would not be forced into making my wife work to support a house. Having the option for my wife to stay home with our child was an important thing to us and one we were willing to "sacrifice" for.
People would tell me that it was impossible to raise a child on just one income. I would argue that most people were unwilling to raise a child on one income. Again, a difference in our way of thinking and our priorities. Please understand that there is no judgment here on working moms or anything like that. It is just important that you honestly look at your rationale behind your decisions and decide if you are being selfish or selfless.
Several years later, read 12, I had to make another big decision and take another leap of faith. This time it was a decision to put all of my children into private school. Because we had been "practicing" living below our means this was a possibility. We have never regretted the decision. Maybe I complain sometimes about all the stuff I could have but I know that I have made the right decision for my family.
Before anybody decides to get me fitted for a halo, let me tell you the other side of the story. Rarely does a week go by when I don't "want" to be selfish. I want the new car, the HDTV, and all of the other toys that society tells us we need. I often dream of "accidentally" pushing my TV off the shelf so I can get a new one because I can't justify getting a new one that I don't need. So, while my brain know I am doing what God calls me to, I am unable to rid myself of the selfish feelings I have.
I guess I was lucky that my father from early on instilled on me these "old fashioned" values. The ideas of working for what you want and that you might have to save up to purchase something or, heaven forbid, sacrifice something. These are now carrying over into my family. I think that I have attempted to move this to a new level in my life and this is what I wish to talk about here.
My walk with Christ has led me on a path to truly examine my priorities and to let Christ guide my purchasing. I think I will start with a little history to explain this. My wife and I got married in 1988. At the time we both made approximately the same salary. As with most newlyweds, we dreamed of having children and buying a house. After about a year of marriage we became pregnant. The time to purchase a house had come. To qualify to buy a house we needed both incomes but because we had talked about it we made sure we purchased a house that we could afford on my income alone. This way we would not be forced into making my wife work to support a house. Having the option for my wife to stay home with our child was an important thing to us and one we were willing to "sacrifice" for.
People would tell me that it was impossible to raise a child on just one income. I would argue that most people were unwilling to raise a child on one income. Again, a difference in our way of thinking and our priorities. Please understand that there is no judgment here on working moms or anything like that. It is just important that you honestly look at your rationale behind your decisions and decide if you are being selfish or selfless.
Several years later, read 12, I had to make another big decision and take another leap of faith. This time it was a decision to put all of my children into private school. Because we had been "practicing" living below our means this was a possibility. We have never regretted the decision. Maybe I complain sometimes about all the stuff I could have but I know that I have made the right decision for my family.
Before anybody decides to get me fitted for a halo, let me tell you the other side of the story. Rarely does a week go by when I don't "want" to be selfish. I want the new car, the HDTV, and all of the other toys that society tells us we need. I often dream of "accidentally" pushing my TV off the shelf so I can get a new one because I can't justify getting a new one that I don't need. So, while my brain know I am doing what God calls me to, I am unable to rid myself of the selfish feelings I have.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
I wanted Stereo but all I got was Mono!!
Sorry for the terribly bad pun. Mononucleosis is an incredibly nasty disease that has directly affected 4 members of my family. All of the family along with friends and acquaintances have been affected indirectly in having to deal with the affects of this disease. According to Wikipedia, the classical symptoms of mononucleosis are a sore throat, fever, fatigue, weight loss, malaise, pharyngeal inflammation, petechiae and loss of appetite. Here is a link to get the full scoop:
We go back to about the time when school was starting back around mid August. My 17 year old senior was starting volleyball practice along with my then 14 yr old freshman. The 17 year old was saying she was always tired, off and on she would state that her throat hurt. She was also not eating well and losing weight. She was not able to perform at the level she was used to in volleyball and was becoming very frustrated over it because she "knew" she could do better. We tried to get her to sleep more and to eat more but nothing seemed to help.
Parents usually seem to "get it" eventually and this was no exception. I don't like running to the doctor every time someone coughs or sneezes. but this was different now. We took her to the doctor to make sure something wasn't wrong that was causing the weight loss and other things. This is when we got the confirmation of "Mono". Good and bad because while now we have an explanation there is no treatment other than treating the symptoms.
So, about this time I start coming home from work and all I want to do is go to bed. I find myself feeling depressed and don't know why and other issues. After a few weeks I decide to go to the doctor and lo and behold I have mono. My 14 year old is trying to get adjusted to high school and is having some difficulties and you would think I would have cought on by now but, noooooo. After quite some I finally decide to take her to the doctor also to see if anything is wrong. We are now 3 for 3.
Along with all of the other drama in my life my oldest daughter is preparing to move to a foreign country for 4 months. She has a "cold" but we still think nothing of it. My previous post explains this part of the story in more detail so I won't go into it here.
The thing to take away from all of this is the next time you here about someone having "the kissing disease", it is a serious thing that while maybe not life threatening it is something serious. I sincerely hope this will be the end of "Mono" in my house because I don't know if I can handle anyone else getting it.
We go back to about the time when school was starting back around mid August. My 17 year old senior was starting volleyball practice along with my then 14 yr old freshman. The 17 year old was saying she was always tired, off and on she would state that her throat hurt. She was also not eating well and losing weight. She was not able to perform at the level she was used to in volleyball and was becoming very frustrated over it because she "knew" she could do better. We tried to get her to sleep more and to eat more but nothing seemed to help.
Parents usually seem to "get it" eventually and this was no exception. I don't like running to the doctor every time someone coughs or sneezes. but this was different now. We took her to the doctor to make sure something wasn't wrong that was causing the weight loss and other things. This is when we got the confirmation of "Mono". Good and bad because while now we have an explanation there is no treatment other than treating the symptoms.
So, about this time I start coming home from work and all I want to do is go to bed. I find myself feeling depressed and don't know why and other issues. After a few weeks I decide to go to the doctor and lo and behold I have mono. My 14 year old is trying to get adjusted to high school and is having some difficulties and you would think I would have cought on by now but, noooooo. After quite some I finally decide to take her to the doctor also to see if anything is wrong. We are now 3 for 3.
Along with all of the other drama in my life my oldest daughter is preparing to move to a foreign country for 4 months. She has a "cold" but we still think nothing of it. My previous post explains this part of the story in more detail so I won't go into it here.
The thing to take away from all of this is the next time you here about someone having "the kissing disease", it is a serious thing that while maybe not life threatening it is something serious. I sincerely hope this will be the end of "Mono" in my house because I don't know if I can handle anyone else getting it.
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