R E S P E C T

This past week has been very difficult. Brie is bucking all authority. On Wednesday she ran off with a friend. She was picked up by police that night for being out past curfew, vandalism, resiting arrest and disorderly conduct. She was beyond disrespectful to the police officers involved. And who gets to pick up her daughter out of the back of the police car? Me. Of course she has a laundry list of lost privileges and added responsibilities. We are trying to change her environment by what she is allowed to do and who she is allowed to see. But how do I change the way she thinks and how she lives her life? The root of the problem is that she does not have respect or love for herself. She doesn't care if she has a police record or what people think of her. She doesn't see a happy future as a possibility for herself. She doesn't believe that God has a plan for her life. And if she doesn't care if she is happy, why should she care if anyone else is happy. Misery loves company, right?

Our girls are afloat in a treacherous ocean of pop culture ugliness. Music tells them that they should be flattered to be picked up and used for a one night stand. Movies teach that it is normal for couples to use each other for sex before the are committed to each other in marriage. As soon as girls are out of the toddler sizes they have to search high and low for any clothing that gives them a little modesty. Social media outlets serve as an opportunity for girls to slander each other and guys to sexually harass girls. Relativism sneaks into all aspects of society as all truth becomes 'opinion' and we all get to play god and decide what is right and what is wrong.

We hope that all kids have parents who love them to counteract the ugliness that we live in, but what about kids whose parents don't or can't protect them? We as a society need to set higher standards for ourselves. Well, now Brie has parents who are going to insist that she respect herself. Of course she is going to hate us for this, since she will be different from the sea of other girls her age who have no idea what self respect is. So be it.