Kids make good accountability partners. Whether you ask them to be or not.
As a SAHM mom, I am with my kids pretty much all day and evening. With the exception of an evening out here or there. And my kids are watching me. They are taking in what I listen to on the radio, how I respond when I am tired, stressed. They are there for it all.
I have been impressed and sometimes surprised with how carefully they are listening to the words of the lyrics we listen to. It’s not just background music for them. For the most part, in our home, we listen to Christian music. There are some exceptions, but I make sure to screen the music I put on my ipod. Not just for them, but for myself as well. I want to fill my mind with things that are pleasing to God, not that which will distract me from Him.
With my careful screening, I was surprised one day when my son asked me to turn that song off. When I asked him why he said he did not like it because the mom died and why would I want to listen to a song about a mom dying. The song in question was Alabama’s “Song of the South”. I had put the song on my “upbeat fun” playlist because I particularly liked the chorus. But in one line it says, “Well momma got sick and daddy got down” and though it never says outright that she died, my son told me, “Mom, it said momma got sick and daddy got down so she died and why would I want to hear a song about a Momma dying?” And, how does a Momma argue with that logic? I promised to take it off my playlist.
Another day we were driving in the car and “Give Me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath came on the radio. My 3 year old daughter said, “Hey Mom, that’s silly why did he ask for a heart. We already have a heart!”
These aren’t just random words floating around the their ears. My kids are listening and thinking about the words to the songs they hear.
And I want the soundtrack of their lives to be one that glorifies our Lord. Often my son will ask me when we’re listening to a song if they person is singing to God. “Mommy,” he’ll say, “Are they singing to God or just people.” And if it is a hymn playing, he almost always thinks it’s the angels singing.
That is why I absolutely LOVE the CD my daughter received from a friend for her birthday. It is called Seeds Family Worship. We were given the Seeds of Faith CD. Each song is right from Scripture. All of the lyrics are Scripture verses. At the beginning of each song they tell you the reference. They are not annoying kids music either. They are great worship songs. Listen here. I like that the tempo changes from song to song. You’ve got a great mix of fast and slow and different vocals. We have the cd in our minivan and play it every time we drive anywhere. We are listening to God’s words as we drive out and about. And I find myself dwelling on Scripture throughout the day. The first time we listened to it, I found myself almost choked up as I heard God’s words being sung to us. In a sense, it brought them to life, or personalized it for me. Then my son said, “Hey Mom, you gotta put the windows down so everyone can hear this. The people need to know that God loves them.” (Yea, then the tears spilled over). Every time the John 3:16 song comes on, he begs me to put the windows down.
As they listen to and digest these words, we’ve had some great discussions. For example, “What’s the witchesofsin"?” Wages of sin I corrected them. We then had a great discussion on Romans 3:23 and how wages means cost and what our sin cost. I really can’t say enough about how great these CD’s are. I plan to purchase a few more soon.
Whether we realize it or not, our children are listening and watching us all the time. Let’s take advantage of that opportunity to minister to them while they still value our input and opinions.
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