Joy Treasure

Everyday I am reminded that this world is not my home. Paul knew this quite well saying, "

^"Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
                                                                                                                               Philippians 3:19-21 

Tonight I was keenly aware, a righteous anger aware, that this world IS NOT my home. On my way to the food court at the local mall, I came face to face with the new location of Victoria's Secret. I knew something was being remodeled but was not aware that the store was moving right in front of the food court. Having not been in the mall for months, I had no idea what I was about to walk towards. With my son hand in hand heading towards the food court to meet family members when low and behold, there the images were.....all over the front of the windows, lingerie EVERYWHERE for everyone to see. Everyone!!!!! Families walking back and forth to the food court now have to pass by this provocative storefront. Little eyes of boys from toddlers to teens have to pass by and see these images of women staring them back in the face. Young girls and women of all ages have to pass by looking away from what the world says that women need to look like, dress like, be like. Why there?

Because the store brings in money. Now, a bigger storefront provides a load of money in a prime location. The mall doesn't care because the rent gets paid. The store doesn't care because all they want is more profit. And what is even worse, the store Pink, the teen store of Victoria's Secret, is right next to the main one.

So what does this tell young girls that they ought to be like when they grow up? It gets them into the habit of being in the store in hopes to one day go into the main store. You may read this post and say, "Ashley don't you think you are acting a bit harsh? Aren't you overreacting?"

NO. I am not.

I don't mind that the store was down the way in our mall. I never had to see it. If women needed something from there, they could walk down towards the end of the mall. Now, it is in the center of the mall. It is very difficult to not have to walk past it. In fact, to avoid it will be avoiding the food court. If you want to go that far. What do you think your husbands think when they pass by? When your sons pass by? When your daughters pass by? How difficult already is it to maintain a household of purity when you can't go to the mall without seeing these what I call, "might as well be pornographic photographs" all over the windows. They are the size of the windows. Not small, LARGE enough to see from my chair while I am eating Chick-Fil-A.

I filed a complaint tonight to the mall. What can one woman do? Tell her friends for sure.
I can't stop my son from being exposed to these images in his lifetime but I can become a filter for him and teach him what is pure and what is not.

Christian parenting is difficult. In fact, it's just plain old inconvenient. I will have to be mindful of where I park now and where I walk because I don't want to expose him to these kind of images. I can come to the food court but will have to enter a different way, the way I never come in.

As Paul said, we are "citizens of Heaven." This world is truly not our home.