Post script: After submitting my post, I went on Facebook and learned of the shooting in CT. My heart goes out to the families and friends mourning this violent massacre. Unthinkable. Woman to Woman Ministries is promoting a 5 PM CST moment of prayer. I’ll add, please be praying all day.
I started yesterday off by hearing a story about a family that made my emotions range from disbelief, to nausea, to sadness. I ended yesterday watching episode after wonderful episode of a family that made me want to pack my bags and move to the country.
I wanted to share the difference between the two families because as I sat in my car, unable to turn the radio dial, I thought of how far our society has come in regards to sexual freedom. Anything goes. We’re open about everything and nothing is taboo.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share the story, but decided that I needed to write about it to balance it out in my head. It’s because of people like Family #1 that I love youth ministry. Because I want to encourage teenagers/young adults that God’s way is better. So many young people come from homes where extreme situations are their normal. I wish that kid had been in our reach. What other kids are within our grasp? What am I doing about it?
While Family #1 is one of the most extreme situations I’ve heard about in a long time, it was Family #2, who, though extreme in other ways, calmed my heart with their family values, belief in God, and amazing dating tips they pass on to their teenage children and grandchildren.
Warning: Family #1 is not for the faint of heart.
Family #1: I think I threw up in my mouth.
I heard yesterday that there is a mother-daughter duo that expects to make millions as the industry’s only mother-daughter porn team.
Yes.
I figured, well, the mom must have gotten pregnant at, like, sixteen. Because for some reason in my head, porn stars are young. Turns out, the mom is 56. According to her, they don’t kiss on the lips, because that would be taking it too far.
Way to draw the line.
So, while this mother-of-the-year is “performing” with her 22-year-old daughter, she has a 19-year-old son who is a virgin.
Huh?
According to the mother, she hopes her son follows in the “family business,” but he shouldn’t lose his virginity on screen. That needs to remain in the privacy of the bedroom.
Oooookay.
My heart broke for this poor boy. Is he ashamed of his family? Why has he chosen abstinence? What makes a teenage boy “rebel” by not having sex? Maybe he doesn’t have a shot at a girlfriend?
I thought of all the teenage boys I know who would jump at the chance to have sex with anyone, anywhere, anytime, and yet here he was, waiting. I wanted to know more of his story, but he was only a quick mention as the DJs bantered about the psychological damage the mother was bestowing on her daughter. In the article from Huffington Post, which I did not look up and am not linking here, a psychologist called it “emotional incest.” No kidding. Please keep this unnamed boy in your prayers.
I was disgusted. And heartbroken.
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I started thinking about how far we’ve come. Sex is expected when you’re dating, moving in together is a “natural” step, and if someone chooses to remain a virgin, it’s “good for them, but I could never do it.” Or they must be a loser and not able to “get any.”
There was a radio segment later asking people to call in and share where they felt the “line” was for touching your boyfriend/girlfriend’s butt or boobs in public. Four months? Six months? A year? As I listened to callers and radio personalities share their opinions, I realized I was the extreme minority.
Marriage. Maybe a playful slap on the butt on rare occasion, but that’s pushing it for my conservative spirit.
No one echoed the thoughts in my head.
Family #2: I laughed, tweeted, and cheered.
After my husband and I tucked our kiddies into bed, we sat in our family room and watched some episodes of Duck Dynasty. My new favorite show.
They are an extreme redneck family, going from “rags to riches” making duck calls in Louisiana. The matriarch, Ms. Kay, eats squirrel brains and Uncle Si tells outrageous stories. Phil and Kay Robertson have four sons, three of which are featured on the show. The men have hair and beards to their chests, but every episode ends with the family sitting around an enormous table, heads bowed, thanking God for their food, family, and a couple specific situations going on in their lives.
I got interested in the show after seeing a picture of the Duck Dynasty wives visiting the hospital bedside of a family I’m following on Facebook. Their page, Bringing Home the Browns, shares updates on Heather, who slipped into a coma at 34 weeks pregnant while her husband Sean was overseas in Afghanistan. The baby, John, was delivered via emergency c-section and is happy and healthy. Sean was rushed back to the US, John was finally released from NICU, but Heather remains in a coma.
The Robertson wives visited her bedside to pray with the family and when I saw the post, I decided this was a family I wanted to know more about. You can follow the Brown’s story here and a link to an article about the Duck Dynasty wives’ visit here.
I love when Phil Robertson takes his grandson, Cole, out on a fishing, hunting, crawfish capturing expedition. He gives him advice on women at every possible moment. Considering Phil has been married to Ms. Kay for well over forty years, he might have some good advice. Considering he can still make Ms. Kay blush, that’s saying something.
My favorite quotes from last night that I shamelessly tweeted:
“The more makeup a woman wears, the more she’s trying to hide. Makeup can hide a lot of evil.”
As a LOVER of makeup, I concur with the stipulation that the best makeup job makes it look like you’re not wearing any.
Advice for dads when teenage boys start sniffing around their daughters: ““A gun in one hand, the Bible in the other.”
And my favorite, from Jase Robertson: “Hands on the hands, lips on the lips. Everything else, wait til you’re married.”
Duck Dynasty airs on A&E. I promise you’ll like it. My husband and I fell in love with the family and we love how God is a natural part of their existence. No pretense. No fluff.
If the beginning of my day started in horror, the end reminded me that there are still people in the world, raising their children according to Scripture, and I didn’t feel so alone.
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