thoughts

I just finished a terrible movie which got me thinking again about some things a few women and I were talking about recently. Our discussion was about the battle for contentment while single and the horrible impact "chick flicks" and the media in general have on our psyche, our contentment and our thought life. Basically, we were discussing how the media shows us how we can do things incredibly wrong and everything works out for us. Now, I know these are movies, they are for entertainment, and, to some extent, they require/expect us to suspend our logical side for a bit (this is the very thing I get upset at people for NOT being able to do during movies, haha). BUT, if one truly sits back and analyzes the messages we are sent during a single 2 hour movie, and then extrapolate that to the number of movies we see in a year, even a lifetime, you can see how they have--albeit slyly, subtly, and over time--affected us to the very core. I challenge you, think about the past 4 or 5 movies you've watched, even if they are not romantic comedies or chick flicks. Almost every movie has some element of "romance" (if you can call it that) in them. And almost all of the time, the relationships they portray and dysfunctional, immoral and/or based on lies. But they always work out in the end, with a simple resolution, and swells of violins in the background. What does that do to the heart of an upright, moral woman who is trying to live for God and trust him for a husband?
I caught a glimpse of this first hand in the terrible movie I referred to. In the course of the movie, I saw the moviemakers endorsing same-sex couples, said couple adopting a baby, pre-marital sex (they almost seemed shocked at the possibility that the couple was NOT having sex before marriage), and a couple that, during one single night, ends up breaking up for each other's siblings (both couples are happily together with their new halves the next year)
Sisters (and brothers), please be mindful of what you let in your eyes, your minds and your hearts (you'd be surprised how the 3 are connected). If you see that you are struggling with having contentment where God has you, evaluate what you are letting influence you.