Ruminating

Garrett is out of town and it's looking less and less likely that he'll be home tomorrow. He flew to Portland on Wednesday and is driving back to Chicago with a moving truck full of stuff from our storage unit. We've had a storage unit since 2005 when we moved to New York. Now that we finally have a house big enough to accommodate our treasures from the past we figured it was time to kiss the monthly storage unit payment goodbye. Weather this week has not been ideal on the drive route so Garrett and his buddy Mike aren't quite making the time they had hoped. I'm a little bummed about that, but would much prefer they be safe than recklessly try to get here by tomorrow night.

The kids and I are keeping fairly busy in Garrett's absence, but we do miss him. Even though we don't spend our days with him, when he's gone the rhythm of the house is different and sometimes the time drags in an unfamiliar way. We've had some friends over this week and I've made it to the Y to work out a few times, but still I find myself giving the kids a little more TV time to get through the day. I am so ready for spring! Definitely feeling a little itchy to get outside without piling on the layers.

With the evenings to myself this week I've had a lot of quiet time though, and my mind is still stirring with thoughts about the book we found at the library the other day and reflections on children's and youth literature. I am captivated by the idea of non-religious books with elements of faith. Do we really see that in literature today? At any age level? And how often? I know there are lots of Christian books written for kids, but what about books written for Christian kids--kids who aren't looking for something "Christian" to read but would still appreciate realistic characters who reflect people of faith. I can recall a few characters in mainstream movies or books that profess a faith, possibly a Christian one (though that specification is often rather nebulous), but it seems they all eventually cave to the ideals of the secular world around them. Are there any examples of young people of faith in contemporary movies or literature who don't eventually acquiesce to the behaviors and mindsets of their peers?

I think of the character Donna from the original Beverly Hills 90210 (am I dating myself?). For years she was the staunch good girl, identifying herself with a Catholic (if my memory serves) faith tradition and though she was a dubious model of Christian ideals, she did hold fast to her commitment to save sex for marriage. That is until her boyfriend became just so overpoweringly wonderful and loving that she threw caution to the wind, and of course never regretted it and from that point on her ideals became indistinguishable from those of her friends. An old example perhaps, but certainly one that stood out to me when I was a young Christian. Are there any more current portrayals of Christian characters who actual stick to their ideals and face the struggle, or the consequences, and still don't regret it? I know those kids exist in real life. What if there were some literature out there to reflect it? And what might it do for a non-Christian kid to see Christianity portrayed through a totally normal, perhaps even cool kid who just happens to cling to some high ideals? Must every Christian character be pushy, or naive, or blithely innocent, or just plain out of touch? I'll admit I like to laugh along with everyone else at The Simpson's Ned Flanders. But what does it say if that's the only kind of Christian today's youth really sees?

I'm not sure where I'm going with all this. My mind is just rolling all this over and I'm praying God would show me something, give me something, point me in some direction to satisfy this curiosity that has sprung in me in the past few days. I'm excited to be excited about something. Just hoping God will now give me some insight as to why this is so gripping my attention.