II Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Ouch!!! That hurts...


Saturday, Matt and I took a break from all the seriousness and busyness of the week and took the kids to the movies to see Daddy Day Camp. It was VERY cute and your kids will love it. There was one part where the "bad" guys pants get pulled off and he walks around in his yellow and red star undies for a minute...(and that kind of surprised me---since you could sort of see the "bulge" in that spot) but other than that...it was really clean and fun and had a great story. Anyway, as usual, we loaded up our purses (Brooklyn and I) with snacks from home. I had a baggie of animal crackers, a baggie of cheese-its, 2 oatmeal cookies, a package of peanut butter crackers, 2 capri suns and a can of soda. (Man, that sounds like a lot when I type it all out! ha ha) Anyway, when we got out of the car, I noticed Brooklyns little purse was bulging a bit so I started to say "make sure your purse is closed so noone sees what's in it" but then I caught myself....WHOA....was I just fixing to tell my daughter to SNEAK food into the movies...that we were doing something WRONG---together...????
Uh-hum....that got my attention. Nevertheless...we proceeded---paying for our tickets but not for our food....Of course, as we walked in I see this HUGE sign that says "Absolultely NO outside food or drinks allowed!" I'm sure it's always been there but that day it seemed to be lit up in NEON lights and I was thanking my lucky stars that Brooklyn can't read yet!
So anyway...this was on my mind....
Now, fast forward to Sunday School the next day. The lesson is about guarding our families..and part of it talked about being an example. Our teacher went on to give examples that even what WE do is an example to our kids...not just what we let them do. For instance, maybe we don't them listen to certain music or watch certain movies...but WE do it. That's not good. Sure enough....you know what came to my mind. Ugh...
I didn't want to think about it.
I mean, come on. It's hard enough to afford to take our whole family to the movies as it is...but then to buy snacks there is just downright OUTRAGEOUS. It costs 3 times as much for snacks and drinks there as it does for the actual movie ticket.
So now I am battling within myself about what the right thing to do is.
I want to hear yall's opinions. Am I teaching my daughter it is okay to sin by doing this? What if I don't have her put anything in her purse...but I just do it? Ugh..I think I know the answer even though I don't want to admit it...but anyway...tell me what you guys think about this...

5 comments:

Beverly said...

I have a hard one with this one Jen because I feel as we are being robbed for refreshments at the movies and always take stuff in. Now that my oldest can read he says mom that sign say's no food or drinks allowed. This is really a hard one.

KC said...

OK, this is a tough one. I mean, they put that sign there, so you will feel like you HAVE to buy their snacks...knowing most people bring stuff in with them....I'm sure almost everyone has at one time or another.

If we are really hungry and short on time, we usually buy 1 diet coke and popcorn (that we all share).

Another thing we sometimes do is stop somewhere and get something to eat, before the movie...or promise to get something to eat after. Much cheaper!

I don't know what to tell you...you don't want to be teaching Brooklyn that it is ok to sneak, or cheat. She is at a very delicate age, where she can't understand the difference between one situation and the next. Like, if it is ok to sneak something into the movies, is it ok to sneak something out of a store, or out of Mommy's purse? Ouch! I told ya, this is a touchy one. Just pray about it, and do whatever God directs your spirit to do. No one can really answer this for you...this is between you and God.

mr zig said...

I also struggeled with this for a while... I used to sneak my own food in - but, after a while I stopped. I figured, I don't HAVE to eat during the movie, and if I do - well then I can pay the full price. Mind you, that was when I was just dating!!! With a whole family - I might have to reconsider! You are right.. the food prices are CRAZY!

tori said...

in my honest opinion as much as i don't want to say it, you have to do the right thing. we (generalizing here) may feel that we are paying way toooo much money for the refreshments at the movies, but on the other hand i would rather my children remember that going to the movies is a special treat and so is getting the refreshments there. i want that memory verses the memory of my parents took us to the movies, but we had to "sneak" snacks in. i try to teach my children that we have to obey the rules in our house and we also have to obey the rules in public places. having no outside food or drink is a rule at the movies. to me sneaking snacks in is teaching children that it is ok not to obey rules.
sorry bout the novel here, just wanted to write my opinion.

Logzie said...

Ok...I was waiting to see what everyone else thought before I chimed in.

I comppletely and totally agree that the prices are OUTRAGEOUS! I too have sneeked food into the movies...in fact just last week on Chuck & my's date nite I put a Starbuck's carmel latte in my purse! Really, I did!...and it was fantastic to sip on that during the Bourne Ultimatium...great movie by the way.

But you asked what the "Right" thing to do is and I think we all know the answer to that one...it's definately wrong and each and every time I do it, I feel convicted about it.

So, thank you for this post...I am going to change my ways and do the right thing from here on out. It is a horrible example to our children to disobey that rule and I am so glad you put it that way. God will reward us anyway for obeying.