I am incredibly active in working with my church's youth group, and try to pay attention to what they are watching and listening to. I am not one of those people who tries to like everything teenagers like to be "cool"...but I do like to know what I am spiritually up against. Let's be honest...there are certain things in pop culture today that have complete "dumbed down" our teenagers. An excellent example of this is the RIDICULOUS show, Jersey Shore. Basically, it's an hour-long reality disaster that follows around this group of young adults from the Jersey Shore who stumble around drunk, making out with each other, sleeping around randomly, and saying things that would make our ancestors roll over in their graves. It's terrible. And our teenagers today eat it up! They laugh at it...they talk about it...they even mimic it. It's absolutely embarrassing. So, this is something that I keep in mind when talking to them and encouraging them to be good, Godly young men and women. I try to present the OPPOSITE example of what things like Jersey Shore offer. Well, around the Summer of 2008, I had started to hear my youth kids talking about this vampire love story. They were all caught up in some story where a normal, human girl falls in love with a vampire...and how he struggles with not killing her because he loves her...and how her best friend, a werewolf, tries to keep her from the vampire because they are mortal enemies. I was THOROUGHLY confused. And...a little disturbed. I couldn't figure out why my youth girls were so in love with a VAMPIRE STORY!!! It just did NOT make any sense to me. So, one day...I borrowed the 1st of the four books from one of the youth girls. I decided to just flip through it and make sure it was clean. Keep in mind, I was INCREDIBLY skeptical at this point. I will never forget it...I sat in my brother's recliner, all curled up under a blanket, with just the lamp on, and some Gavin DeGraw playing softly in the background. It was almost midnight, and I was about to head to bed. I was simply going to skim through it...or so I thought. It wasn't until I was about 3 pages in that I realized I wasn't going to be able to flip through it. By the end of the first chapter, I was hooked. That's right...it took ONE CHAPTER. That's all. About 3 hours later, I was half-way through reading the book. I finally had to MAKE myself put it down...and it was ONLY because I knew I had to work the next morning. Anytime I had a spare moment, I continued my reading...and it literally took me just under 2 weeks to read all four books. As previously discussed in my last post, it doesn't take much for me to get addicted to something. Not long after reading the books, the first movie came out. I watched it 11 times. That's right...ELEVEN TIMES. Thankfully, I calmed down after the movie. I saw the second and third movies only twice each. Haha...
So, there it is. The story of how I began my love-affair with Edward Cullen. This next movie will be packed with all of the things I've been waiting for: Wedding, Honeymoon, Baby. THIS is why I am so excited. Seriously, my absolute favorite thing about the Twilight Saga is how innocent it is. Yes...there are vampires and werewolves. But, the love between Edward and Bella is so pure. The innocent romance between them is, sadly, something we don't see anymore. I cannot tell you the last time I watched a movie where the main couple made it a point to practice ABSTINENCE. That alone is something I truly love my youth kids seeing. I love how this book series made it OK to stay a virgin until marriage. The way they take things slowly, and just have a sweet romance has my youth girls wanting nothing less for themselves. Even though there is the OBVIOUS unrealistic aspect of it (with the mythical creatures)...I try to use it as an example. I try to point out how sweet Edward is, and how waiting until marriage for consummating the relationship just makes their story that much more amazing. To me, more love stories should take a cue from these stories.
So, when does all this excitement take place? ONE WEEK!!! That's right...November 18. This is when it all happens...when FOREVER is just the beginning...
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