Questions from the Backseat

Since we got a van with a CD player a couple of months ago (yes, you read that correctly - we are now in the 21st century), we have been listening to much more music coming and going. We started out listening to Christmas music. Pretty much, we listened to our church's Christmas program practice CD.

That's when I started realizing that my boys REALLY listen to the words of the songs that they're listening to.
And they think about those words.
And they ask questions about those words.

And considering that I am honest with them (meaning I either try my best to explain, or I just say "You won't understand that 'til you're a little bit older"), I realized that I need to pay careful attention to what they listen to.

Yes, I knew that already, and I was doing that already, but now I think I'm more PURPOSEFUL in choosing what we listen to. Most of the time, we're listening to MY music, which means it's harder to understand, but contains quite a bit of doctrine. That's right, doctrine. You see, the songs we listen to (especially in the van) bring up basic doctrinal questions. Questions like:

"What are fishers of men?"
"God really can do anything, can't He?"
" Why DID Jesus have to die on the cross?"
"Why is Jesus the Glorious Impossible?" (LOL - Thomas asked Travis that question. I understand that his first response was "Go ask your mother!" Thanks, honey.)

Answering these questions has reminded me that riding in the car is a wonderful time to talk to my kids about God and his Word. Isn't that what Deut. 6 says we should do? It says one of the times that we should teach our children about God is when we are "walking in the way." (Of course, it also goes on to name several other times, meaning we should be teaching them about God throughout the day.)

Now don't get me wrong, I don't make my kids listen to my grown-up music all the time. My kids listen to children's music when they're playing around the house. A couple of years ago, Mrs. Regina Farrell (wife to Dr. Tom Farrell) gave me a very helpful and godly piece of advice. She said that when they were traveling with their children in close quarters, she found that listening to good, godly music seemed to ease tension and bickering among her children. In talking to other friends who have discovered this truth, we have agreed that it really does make a difference in the tone of our homes. So, on goes Patch the Pirate, especially when the kids have been testy or whiny.

Daniel, especially, is at a spiritually sensitive point right now. From what I have seen, I think that God is using music to make him think and ask good questions. And I'm thankful for that!