Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
"Point your kids in the right direction—when they’re old they won’t be lost."
Proverbs 22:6 (The Message)
Fast forward a few months and then I see my daughter asking me if she was pretty, and if she could have the American Girl with the make up set she saw in a catalogue we received in the mail (how did they know there was a girl in my house!)
With this as the backdrop story, let me tell you about malls and my family.
We almost never go to the mall, especially with kids. When they were young, while many weary mothers stroll babies in the malls to kill time, I stayed home. My kids cry in strollers and in cars - they never sleep there. When they were a little older, it just seemed to me more work to think of loading them into cars to make the trip to the mall. And well, now that they are a little older, we are just not in the habit of going!
So I noticed things when we do go. And this summer I think we have gone with the kids at least a couple of times.
If you go to church you might know a little kid's song that goes like this:
Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
For your Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
That is all I thought when we walked passed the PINK store - you know what I'm talking about right? The mall we go to just got refitted and higher end brand stores are now flooded there (bye bye bulk barn). So, just 2 or 3 stores beside my kids' only destination in the mall, Toys R Us, is none other than the store with those "naked girls", as my kids bluntly put it.
Interestingly enough, we were at a bigger mall farther away from home, and I noticed the same store is closed by the Food Court, the second stop for our family whenever we go to the mall
Hmmmm
I have passed by this store many times in the past, and never thought much about it. Until now.
But now, I either avoid it or tell the kids to walk fast past it.
Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
No, the advertisements are not putting naked people but I do notice ALL our eyes gravitate to that particular store when we pass by it. The Pink, the Huge Posters of, as my kids bluntly state, almost naked ladies looking into your eyes, the shine and glitter and the TV they have there showing the famous (and rather controversial) runway show they are so famously known for.
For the record, I am not criticizing the shop and what they sell per se. I have even shopped there before! I am not saying people should stop going to the mall either. And I am not saying we should segregate ourselves form the world. But now that I am a mother, my eyes see differently. And what I see is exploitation of the senses by marketing firms and advertisements for a gain. What I see is how clever they are in utilizing all our senses to draw us in. What I see now is how true the words of that song are - we have to be careful of what we see - Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Sometimes not wanting to see these things might be harder than you think -- ie. you might have to literally run away from it!
Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
What is WRONG with the pink store advertisement (the same goes with some of the commercials we see on television)? I see now that it promotes the sexification of women and it is done out in the open, with total disregard of a proper place for it - certainly not closed to where heavy traffic by kids and families is - I am not saying they should close down, but what is bothering me is how bluntly it is done. There are other similar stores in the mall that sell similar merchendise - and neither my kids are bothered by it (they don't notice it as easily) nor do I feel so attracted to look or to protect my kids' eyes from it.
I wonder, just for a minute after we arrived safely to Toys R Us...what other things my kids and I have been watching and seeing that might require us to look the other way. It may not be as flashy and noticeable as this pink store...but they are there...aren't they?
We cannot shield our kids from the world, but we have to be smart about how we introduce them to the world, and how we guide them to live IN the world but not be led by the world aimlessly. Above all, I know for me, I really don't have the wisdom necessary to guide. Only when I surrender to Him, confess to Him my "pink" stores, is when His wisdom is able to work THROUGH me to guide these little children He has given to my family. "In" Him and "Through" Him and "By" Him. Nothing more, nothing less. And then....being aware of these "pink" stores won't be as scary or disconcerting. Rather, I think it would be reassuring to be reminded that this world is not our own, we are mere passengers, and God is here to parent with and alongside us, so that these little children become sojourners like me, passing by this world and living life to the fullest and most meaningful way.
Romans 12:2 (The Message) says:
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you
Oh be careful little eyes what you see!
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