Custos Morum

I have caved in to peer pressure.

After many moons of refusing to participate in MySpace or anything akin to it, I have decided finally to have my own blog. For a long time I have detested the whole idea… not because I haven't enjoyed reading the posts of many of my loved ones out there, but because I think many people use MySpace/blogs as a means to reveal a little more than they should; namely, young ladies (and I use the word “ladies” loosely). I get so disheartened when I see girls from high school/college/church/work put material on their pages that is suggestive or overtly inappropriate (I am speaking specifically of my sisters-in-Christ, but this behavior from ANY girl is still maddening). It bothers me so much that I literally had to GROUND myself from viewing MySpace because my ire and blood pressure would skyrocket, and I would then become consumed by planning out what I would say to some of these girls, if I ever had the opportunity. I mean, don’t they realize what they’re doing? Don’t they know that they are summing up their entire list of priorities, moral values, self-perception, and the parameters by which others should treat them on a 10.5 X 13 inch computer screen? (That’s the size of my monitor, anyway).

Look, I’m not trying to be judgmental here or pretend that I am the Moral Sovereign of the World Wide Web. I just think that we as intelligent, driven, fun, and, yes, even attractive Christian women, have so much more to offer than a video of an underwear-clad pillow fight, provocative poses rolling by on a slideshow, or referring to one another as “sexy”, “lover”, or any of the more vulgar references that are popular today. It is of particular importance to consider the contents of your blog when you know your audience is impressionable. I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be fun! It should be! My friend Karmen tells me that having a blog is fun and even therapeutic (which I am really looking forward to). But through the fun, we should all consider the testimony we bear in Arial font...

I am at an impasse in my plea for blogging decorum… I can’t entreat one to have a good testimony if one's blog only lays bare what is true of their life. Proverbs 4:22-24 says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.” I had a pastor that expressed this same idea, albeit a bit less eloquently, saying, “What’s in the well comes up in the bucket.”

Welcome to my Blog. This is my bucket.

Other Buckets in which I find refreshing water:

-My brother Michael’s blog is the one I frequent the most. He shares insightful and candid thoughts about spiritual issues, politics, marriage and family. And not a hint of underwear-clad pillow fighting.

-Alison Struska shares the everyday details of her life with enthusiasm and joy!

-My sister-in-law Michelle is an exemplary MySpace-r. She has over 400 young people in her group of friends- let’s estimate half of them are girls- and she has never posted anything remotely inappropriate. Oh, to learn from her!

-Amanda really reveals her growth in Christ in almost every blog.

-And last, my husband, Jared, my hero in the fight against smut! He has been working on forming an entire web community and video sharing website based on the principle of “Clean Content”. It is called ZigVid. It hasn’t launched officially yet, but sign up and check in frequently. Way to go, Presh!