Sing It and Mean It - Part 2

Just a few extra thoughts since my last post....

Since the movie Frozen was released, it has been such big influence on my little girl's activities and, thus, been on my mind quite a bit. There's no doubt that the movie is a grand hit. People are talking about it, discussing it's meaning in depth and coming up with quite a few ideas for what agenda it may or may not be pushing. While I, as a Christian, find traces of my own beliefs displayed through the sacrificial love shown by Anna, I in no way believe there to be a Christian agenda secretly woven into the film. I also don't believe that Frozen is trying to influence our children to find hidden powers they might possess, to embrace finding oneself and embracing independence at all costs, or to pursue a homosexual lifestyle -- all things I've heard/read others argue. What I do think it promotes is waiting for true love, consequences for one's actions, and the importance and power of love.

While I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie all three times I saw it, there are certainly behaviors I don't want my daughter to emulate. However, that's where I, as the parent and guide, come in.

In the song I touched on in my last post, "Let It Go," I dealt only with the idea of letting go of things that are harming us. Does that mean that we should let everything go? No. Certainly there are things to which we should hold - our family, our faith, our convictions. Elsa started letting go of fear (a good thing to do) but went too far when she abandoned her sister and others. When Elsa sings, "No right, no wrong, no rules for me," we're not meant to blindly accept that. As we find later, she cannot live by that stance without seriously harming herself and others. These are the things I discuss with my own daughter when we talk about the movie or she sings the song.

We have the soundtrack in our car, and I often giggle when I catch a glimpse of my sweet girl in the rear view mirror clutching her fists, chin upraised, and singing with such emotion in her face. After she belts out a tune like "Love is an Open Door," I sometimes pause the CD and talk with her. The characters in the movie go from meeting to getting engaged in one evening, obviously not a wise choice. We talk about that and about what good choices they could have made.

Children's entertainment is not going to fit inside my own brand of perfect. Sometimes I roll my eyes when I see the way a parent handles a situation on on one of the programs Willow Grace watches. That's another opportunity for my girl and me to talk. While I do put boundaries on the types of things she does watch and read and listen to and try to keep them age (and morally) appropriate, I'm not going to keep her in the preschool world of entertainment with nothing but easy solutions and blissfully happy people.

Once a teacher....

I am an English teacher, and that will always be part of me. It’s just not what I’m currently doing and haven’t since I had Willow Grace a little over 3 years ago. But I will always teach in some form, even if it’s an unconventional form. The last two years I worked for admissions, and I’m thrilled that this year finds me back in the classroom every day.

Current Job: Full time substitute teacher, middle and high school in a private Christian school
Job Satisfaction: Oh yeah!

This morning I sat in a sixth grade classroom listening to a girl praying for her classmates and their families. Through the wall, I could hear a third grade class next door singing “This is the Day” in their sweet little voices. Nearly every morning I sing that song myself, choosing to recognize that each day is a gift from God and also choosing to live my life in gratitude.

I love working in a Christian school. I love that at any moment you may walk into a classroom, office, or even hallway and find people praying. I love that our football teach sings “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” in the locker room before heading onto the field. And I am saddened that no everyone has that freedom, even in our country. Not trying to be political, just expressing my feelings… I’m not going to focus on the negative today. I really just want to express my gratitude for where God has assigned me. It has not always been easy. In fact, there have been moments, days, and even weeks when I thought about giving up and moving on. I’ve faced some of the hardest trials of my life here. But the Lord has kept me here, and I’m content to be here for as long as He wants.

Willow Grace Wednesday

Fun times at Nana and Papa's house. (That's her Papa, my dad, in the first picture. Bootsie, my cousin, is pulling her in the wagon with Christian, Bootsie's son.)

Silly times with a bucket!

I think I'm doing pretty well with holding off until Wednesdays to post a bunch of pics of Willow Grace. I love doing these little collages so I can get a bunch of shots in without taking up too much space.

I am so proud of my sweet girl and so thrilled to be a mom. She's growing so fast and learning so much! By the way, this last week she learned how to find her nose, and she can say "Amen!" Yeah, we think she's pretty brilliant!