Good afternoon! Wow, what a gorgeous day this is. It is like God knew just what it would take to make a perfect day, and he sent that sort of weather to Michigan.

My husband is watching NASCAR while our 2 year old is napping and the older boys (ages 5 and 8) are playing in the backyard. NASCAR is not really my thing (though it is better than watching basketball), so I am working on some writing stuff today. I have a book that I am nearly finished with. The manuscript is complete, and I am getting it ready to send off to an agent. I cannot tell you how nervous that makes me! My first two novels have been self-published. I am pleased with them, but sales have not been wonderful. If I want to make a living through my writing, I need to get into a traditional publisher. Most of the Christian publishers only look at manuscripts through an agent, so I need one. But it is a little scary to put my stuff out there.

Then again, I truly feel that writing is my gift. I believe this is what God wants me to do, it is the ministry He wants me involved in. If He plans for me to have an agent and contract with a traditional publisher, He will make it happen. I am jsut trying had to keep my eyes on Him through it all!!

I love to watch sitcoms. Always have and I probably always will. I grew up watching shows like Full House, Family Matters, Saved By The Bell, and of course Growing Pains. Home Improvement, Blossom, The Cosby Show…. Now those were good family entertainment. Hollywood doesn’t make many shows like that anymore. The ones that are made air on Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, which is why I know who Miranda Cosgrove, Selena Gomez, and the Sprouse twins are.

A couple of nights ago, I watched a Hannah Montana rerun with my boys. If your children are tweens or younger, you probably have seen the episode I am talking about. While Christmas shopping in the mall with Lily, Miley meets a boy named Connor. She knows nothing about him, other than he is cute and made her laugh, but agrees to go out with him. It is not until they are on their date that Miley realizes how short Connor is. Thought she tries to ignore it, the height thing is really an issue for Miley. At the end of the date, she is so uncomfortable with the height difference that she refuses to kiss Connor good-night. The point of this episode is that Miley and her friends learn they should not judge a person by what is seen on the outside.

My problem with this episode is not the lesson that was learned. I think most of the world could benefit by learning to not judge on looks alone. My concern is with Connor’s expectation that the date should end with a kiss.

I can see going on a date with someone you have just met. My feeling is that is what a first date is for. It’s a chance to spend time one-on-one with a new person and decide if there is a reason to continue the relationship. A kiss, in my mind, is an intimate moment that should be shared by two people who care about and respect each other. That is not something that is likely to be true of two people who met less than 48 hours before the date.

Call me old-fashioned if you wish. Maybe I am. Maybe I only feel this way because I have kissed only 3 guys in my life, and my first kiss didn’t happen until I was 16. Seventeen years later, I look at that first with more regret than anything. Though I had known the boy for 2 years, he was not the person I thought he was. I really regret that I wasted such a special once-in-a-lifetime moment with someone who was less than worthy of me.

Teens are likely to do a lot of things they regret. Settling for someone not good enough, just because a TV show said it was OK, should not be one of them.