Garbage in, Garbage out

Remember Happy Days? Or Bob Newhart Show? Home Improvement? Cosby Snow? Maybe I Love Lucky or Andy Griffith Snow? I remember watching some of these growing up with my parents. Sitcoms that the whole family could watch. Yes, there would be jokes that I didn't get until I watched re-runs when I was older, but it was funny for everyone.

We are missing that today. Today I just typed in the top for for this week. Here are some of the shows from the top 100 to choose from: NCIS, the Bachorlette, Gossip Girl, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and Family Guy. How things have changed!

We need to realize that what we are watching and what we are reading ~ these things that we input our minds ~ do effect us. Remember when they used to say, "Garbage in, Garbage out"? It applies here as well. A few weeks ago my husband and were re-watching a Jim Carrey movie that we haven't seen in years. As we were watching it, I became so aware of all of the bad language in the movie. I remember that it had some, but it really bothered me how much it had. I realized how much I have changed through the years because the movie was not near as funny now.

So much of the television is covered with shows that you cannot watch with your kids. We watch alot of Nickelodeon, Disney, games shows like Minute to Win It or Smarter than a 5th grader, and animal shows. If it is something that my kids shouldn't be watching ~ is it really something that I need to watch either?? Do I need to watch toddlers dressing like adult women screaming at their parents? Or adults getting drunk and sleeping with who ever is there?

I am not a big t.v. person anyway. I have always loved music and books more. Yet, some of those hair bands that I loved growing up, I can only hear one or two songs and I am ready to turn it. I do flip stations on commercials and listen pop and country. There are songs from every genre that have a great message. But, I feel so much more calm when I listen and sing to songs of hope. Little reminders from the radio that God loves me. They are even better when the kids are singing in the car with me! :)

Books are harder for me honestly. I read a lot of Christian living books. But ~ I love all of the other books as well! Romance, mystery, novels. Whatever! And I know that some of the books that I read are plain ol' garbage. But I love the happily ever afters or the solving the mystery or life stories. I love spending an hour or two with characters that come alive in the pages of a book. Yet I know that God could make better use of my hour or two than reading something that won't help me in this walk of life.

So what I am trying to say is that I guess as flawed humans, we each have some garbage that we must work on in ourselves. Each of us with our own garbage that we struggle with. We are not God's finished product yet. We just need to make sure we are not becoming the trash dump!

"Finally, brothers, what ever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is

commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy

of praise, think about these things." ~ Philippians 4:8