Stroller envy

Rewind: I’m 17, driving with my girlfriends in my dad’s Pontiac 6000 turning our heads at every single mustang driving by (and maybe it’s driver..)

 

Fast forward a bit: I’m in college.  I’ve upgraded to a tank called a Dodge Diplomat driving downtown Vancouver looking at all the Camaro’s (and maybe its driver…)

 

Fast forward to present day: walking down the mall with my baby in stroller turning my head at the trendy strollers (and maybe it’s driver…. “she can’t be THAT thin with a baby!!…”)

 

Stroller envy.  If you told me years ago that I would be captured by “strollers” and cool baby accessories I would have laughed and thought, “how ridiculous!”.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s some baby accessories out there that have made life soooo much easier!

 

If you’re a new mom, welcome to a new sub-culture: Mommy culture.  If you’re not a mom, its a whole new world to discover.  We have our own language, indulgences, way of life and cool joints we hang out at.

 

“Mommy culture” has shifted in the last decade.   We are much more engaged with our children today.  Not saying that those before didn’t engage with their kids, but we’ve taken it to a whole new level.  Thus the increase in specialty schools, preschools that specialize in preparing children for university, I mean, kindergarden.   The baby market has exploded with innovation…. and SALES!   Baby clothing stores make a bundle.   20 years ago, a store such as GAP would never imagine having a market to sell baby clothes to (at least to the degree it is today)   And here’s the one I’m most thankful for: coffee shops that have play areas for babies to preschoolers so mommies can chat!  GENIUS!  I’ve heard more than a dozen older moms say, “Where was THAT when my babies were little?!”   If you’re in business, and your smart,  you can make a bundle off us moms.

 

The problem I’m seeing that’s missing is: where did our faith and the demonstration of it go in all this?  As we go into hypnosis over all the baby classes and newest gadgets, where did our sense of mission go?   Do I dare say it’s taken a back seat?

 

“In the New Testament, everywhere Paul went, he sparked a revolution.  But today, everywhere I go, they just serve tea and crumpets” (an English Bishop)

 

Rick Warren’s response is this; “We’ve become tamed by tradition, captivated by culture…”

 

 

What if we kept the strong focus on family we carry today, turned our cheek to “baby consumerism”, and made our homes missional lamp posts for our communities?

What if we took all the energy we spend on the internet researching the latest trends into looking for needs our families can meet?  What if we took all the money we spend on temporal gadgets our children grow out of in a week and used it to teach our children to save and to give (their little eyes watch where we spend our money just waiting to imitate)

 

What if we taught our children a self-less life of a disciple? (aka: missionary or sent-one)?  What would it look like to model that?   Where would the eyes and heart focus?  Does it require a shift?