Hollygood

A few weeks ago, my family rented a house in Florida for a weeklong vacation. We had a wonderful time riding bicycles, kayaking, playing games, and relaxing on the beach as much possible. Our evenings were pretty laid back and usually included some type of family game followed by lounging on the screened-in porch or snuggled up in the den watching a movie. One night after some discussion about what movie we wanted to watch, we discovered that my dad had never seen one of our family’s favorites, Anne of Green Gables, and was less than thrilled about the possibility of watching the six-hour miniseries. Growing up, anytime someone turned on a movie you knew it would only be a couple of seconds before you’d hear, “What’s this rated?” from my dad. Knowing how much he appreciated wholesome movies, we tried desperately to peak his interest with snippets of the story-line and enthusiastic endorsements from every family member including phrases like “wholesome”, “clean”, and “sweet”. The more I thought about our tactics to entice, the more it dawned on me how truly rare good wholesome, good quality, unanimated movies are to find.

Growing up I always justified watching questionable movies because I thought that since I was a Christian they wouldn’t affect or tempt me but truth be told, I still find storylines and images from those questionable movies popping up in my head every once in a while. I can tell myself that I am not affected by the things I expose myself to when trying to be “culturally relevant” but any ungodly thing I allow into my head can easily cause me to stumble later. Luckily, I just recently discovered two websites that I think will be invaluable as I raise my children because they will allow us to watch current movies without the violence, language, or sexually explicit scenes. The prices are a little higher than your average video store membership but the rewards are priceless. Be sure to checkout hollygood.com and cleanflicks.com.

I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.
Psalm 101:3

P.S. With a new baby in the house, I don't get out much so I'd love recommendations on good wholesome movies that don't have to be edited.

Your thoughts?