I’ve come to look forward to the last Friday of the month because it means my mom will be writing a guest post! I’m enjoying these memories and their related biblical lessons, and I hope you are, too!

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What fun it is to recall my childhood days and share some of the treasures of my childhood with you each month. I am learning that many new and old friends share some of the same memories!

I was about four years old, young enough to enjoy getting up pretty good time in the morning to look forward to the adventures ahead for the day. I was able to dress myself and Mother encouraged me to listen to “Jolly Joe Kelly” over a Chicago radio station while I was getting dressed. Being an only child, it was fun to team up with other girls around the “world” to see if we could beat the boys in getting dressed for the day.

Our living room was the center of activity and was next to the kitchen. It had a generously proportioned Round Oak Heater off to one side of the room. Well, when Jolly Joe said the dressing contest began each morning I would get behind the heater so the radio voice coming over our Atwater Kent Radio couldn’t see me! Jolly Joe would ask for the girls to raise their hands if they were nearly done. I quickly, but cautiously, stuck my hand out around the heater to be sure I was counted and he knew that I was getting dressed as fast as I could. When time was up we were to step out so he could see our hands. It was such a delight to hear “the girls won this morning,” or a disappointment to hear that the boys had won. Of course there was always a “check up” to be sure we had everything on right side out and our shoes were on the correct feet and tied. Because I was certain that somebody was watching, believe me, things were presentable and on to stay!

Twenty five years later our four children were watching television, not listening to the radio, to team up with other youngsters to learn new things and share experiences. We limited their television to thirty minutes each day. They all had to agree on the program to be watched and it was such a joy to see them come up with the most suitable program. They knew the house rules for viewing and followed them with great care as they made their choices. They still recall many things they learned as they listened and watched—probably many things they didn’t think that much about at the time.

In the final true scenario I want to share, one of our neighbors built a new home. Three years later she was using her dust mop under the television in the living room. All of a sudden her mop went right through the floor and her better judgment, because we were living in the south, told her it had to be termites. She said she didn’t even pause; she ran to the phone and dialed a number she didn’t even know she had in her mind, and of course the termite control company took the call. She said she heard their ad many times on television but paid no attention to the number because surely she would never need it.

If what we see and what we hear, even without realizing it, makes such an indelible impression on our hearts and minds, shouldn’t we be careful about what goes into those little minds of our children as well as into our own minds? We can never be too careful because it is there to stay.

Psalm 101:3 says “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes….” There is a reason God gave us such instruction—so good things would encourage us, choosing wisely would mature us, and recognizing that whatever we see or hear is retained somewhere in our memory banks. God’s Word is so practical for every age, every day. Do we heed it as we should?

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Thank you for taking time to read “Remembering…Watching…Listening.” Please feel free to leave a comment for guest blogger, Lorraine Strohbehn.