Music Lessons

I remember riding in the car with my parents as a teenager.  I begged to take control of the radio.  All I wanted was to listen to something other than oldies or the Christian station.  I wanted to be...cool.  Sometimes, I got my way.  Sometimes, I didn't.  When I did get to choose the radio station, I also had to endure speeches, mainly by my dad, which typically began with "Music isn't music anymore..." or "They just don't make music like they used to..." or "You call this music?"  "Yes, Daddy, this is music..." I would say.  Then a 15 minute debate ensued, my top 40 tunes being drowned out by our arguments. 

Yesterday, I was reminded of those car rides. While Heath was browsing itunes, he came across several Christmas albums in the new release category.  Among them was the latest from teen heartthrob, Justin Bieber.  Always curious to see "what the kids are listening to nowadays," I asked my husband to play a Bieber song.  His response?  "Paula, are you serious?"  He humored me and clicked "play."  As we listened to Drummer Boy, Heath made a speech, much like my dad, about how "this is not music."  It was almost as if listening to that song was causing him physical pain.  He went on and on about how horrible it was.  He was right.  It was terrible.  I was laughing hysterically, in part because the song was so ridiculous and in part because of Heath's reaction.  As Heath continued in his rant against this "music," Jacob spoke up.  He was staring at me with a half -horrified, half -serious look on his face.  "Plus," he said.  "I heard the word 'stupid' in that song TWO times!!"  "You did?" I replied.  "YES," was his answer.  Heath confirmed.  You see, "stupid" is one of the words we try not to use at our house.  To Jacob, that is the "s-word."  He stared up at me and said, "Mommy, why were you laughing at that song?"  Ouch.  That one stung a little.  I must confess, I never heard the words.  I wasn't really listening to the lyrics.  But, Jacob was.

I told him I was wrong for laughing and thanked him for calling me out on it.    You can be certain, I'll be more careful next time.  This is the very reason why the radio station in our car is tuned to XM's The Message 95% of the time.  Just flipping through the stations, it's possible to hear every bad word in the book, words much worse than "stupid."  Little ears soak up everything they hear and I have been made very aware of this fact many, many times.   

One thing I guess I can be happy about is the fact that Jacob did call me out.  That shows that even though I was in the wrong, I did something right. 

Thank you, God, for using this instance as a reminder that my children are always watching me.  Please help me to always set a good example.  I pray that you would grant my children the passion and the courage to forever stand up for what they believe in and for what is right.  Amen.