Another holiday past, another “How To Combat” moment. I’ll just dive right in, ’cause it’s a good one!

Lilli: I had some trouble with [relative].

Me: Really? What happened?

Lilli: I told [relative] that she was beautiful, but you were more beautiful than she was

Me (closing my eyes only imagining how this was going to turn out): Oh, well thank you for thinking I’m beautiful, but that probably hurt [relative's] feelings…don’t you think?

Lilli: I don’t know.

Me: Well think of it like this. What if I told you that you were beautiful, but Corinne was more beautiful…how would that make you feel?

Lilli (eyes big): That would make my feelings sad.

Me: Yea…sometimes it’s hard to remember, but we always should think about other people’s feelings. What did [relative] say when you told her that?

Lilli: She said, “Well, I think your mom is fat.”

Me (really, really…really trying to control a laugh…I thought I might have slipped back to elementary school…lol): Well, Lil, not everyone shares our beliefs about treating others nicely.

Ever have a friend who was “prickly” like a porcupine?

No, I’m not going to take credit for this - it was actually Sandy from 4 Reluctant Entertainers (my new favorite blog by the way), who made the comparison. I read her post yesterday about prickly friends, laughed about some memories of my childhood, thought of a recent conversation with a friend who I could TOTALLY pin as a “Miss Porcupine,” and then realized I had some prickly qualities as well. I’ll let you read her post, but my favorite part is when Sandy says, “Prickly people are an opportunity to really use your discernment and observation skills, and to exercise your patience and acceptance. People aren’t always the way we want them to be, but we can still work to deal with them positively.”

I just love that!

Oh- she also had a great gift idea (grandparents…do NOT click on the link or you will get a glipse of what the girls will be making you for Christmas…).

As we were driving back from Beaverun this weekend, Lilli hesitantly said, “Mommy, I need to tell you something.” Whenever she starts off with that, it’s usually to confess something. This time it was for a different reason:

“Sure, Lilli, go ahead…”

“When I was in Michigan [visiting a certain out of state relative], I told [this relative] that he could not pet my Girlie (her stuffed dog) because it would scare her and wake her up and she might bite him. My [relative] said he would throw Girlie out the window.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“Sad and scared.”

“Well I’m sorry [relative] did that. I don’t know why he would say that. Sometimes people say mean things and it hurts our feelings. It’s important that we pray for those people…and we’ll pray for your [relative].”

“Maybe you can call him and tell him to be nice to me.”

(I can’t tell Lilli that would be like starting World War III…lol) “Well, lets try something else first. Next time he hurts your feelings, tell him in a respectful voice how that makes you feel. Then we can see what happens, okay?”

Romans 12:14-21

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Never pay back evil with more evil…Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone…Dear friends, never take revenge….

Instead,

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

(Just as a side note, I got a taste of what Lilli has dealt with. I congratulated this relative on the birth of his new baby. Instead of a thank you, I was told, “any congratulations from you are worthless.” I suppose I could do a blog on how to let go of one’s bitterness….lol.)

“That red man with the horns that are gone…” My five year old was trying to explain to me what movie (among others…sigh…) she “liked watching” while she was visiting that certain out-of-state relative’s residence. (Obviously, nothing shocks me anymore…lol)

Any guesses as to what movie she was talking about? It sounded familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on the title. And since we don’t watch TV or listen to mainstream music, I don’t even know if she was talking about a movie out in the theaters. So I googled, “red,” “horns,” and “movie.” Hellboy was immediately displayed…with a rating of PG-13. That’s right, my FIVE YEAR OLD was watching a PG-13 movie. I would describe PG-13 as: completely off limits for a five year old; this is how the MPAA describes the PG-13 rating:

PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13 years old.

May contain very strong language, nudity (non-explicit), strong, mildly bloody violence or mild drug content.

So how did I handle this? I had to explain to Lilli that even though her relative has different rules than our family, she still needs to think about if it makes God happy. I asked her if the movie Hellboy is something God would be happy watching. She said, “No because the slimy guy was fighting and not talking nicely.” I then asked her if God would be happy that she watched it…again her response was no. I explained to Lilli that we choose to do right things because God does right things. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

We also then looked in the Bible to see where God tells us to watch nice things. Philippians 4:8 says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise”

Does this describe the movie, Hellboy? I think not.

So what movies does Lilli think Philippians 4:8 describes? Cherub Wings, Little House on the Prairie, & Dora the Explorer (just to name a few). She understands it…but Satan sure does have a way of trying to tempt us away from purity and innocence doesn’t he? Thankfully God promises that “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” ~1 Corinthians 10:13 And what do I do as a mother of a child who is being swayed by someone who she trusts, but only sees maybe 8 weeks out of the year? Set God’s standard in our home and family…and pray, pray, pray. “For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” ~Hebrews 13:5

And that’s a pretty darn good feeling

“It’s a beautiful thing to show some of your chest.” My five year old told me that she was told this by a to-be-nameless-girl on a recent trip to a certain out-of-state relative’s residence.

I’m sure I’ll be hearing more things like this as time goes on, since Lilli knows she can come to me with questions and I’m not going to make her *feel* a certain way about it…we look at the situation together, talk about the choices/decisions that can be made, the possible results from those choices, etc. So, I’ve decided to start a “How To Combat ___(insert wacky quote here)___ with God’s Word” series.

This obviously falls under the Modesty category. Society tells us to “flaunt it if we’ve got it.” Why? What purpose does “flaunting it” serve? Does it increase one’s self-esteem? Does it positively attract others? Is this where we want our children to find their worth?

I asked Lilli what she thought of that. She said, “I don’t know.” “Well,” I said, “when I don’t know about something, I look to see what God thinks about it…I go to God’s Word.” Lilli and I flipped to 1 Timothy 2:9 -  “I want women to show their beauty by dressing in appropriate clothes that are modest and respectable. Their beauty will be shown by what they do, not by their hair styles or the gold jewelry, pearls, or expensive clothes they wear.” I explained to her that it doesn’t matter what other people think about what is good or not, what GOD thinks is what really matters. His Word found in the Bible is the Truth. I then explained that God still loves everyone, even when they don’t follow His rules. But, it’s a good idea to always follow the rules because it keeps us safe  - sort of like looking both ways before crossing the road so you don’t get hit by a car.

I think this made sense to her, because she then said, “Just like when the snake told Eve it was okay to eat the apple even though God said not to.” Exactly…