We had the talk with our two older sons, Spencer (10 yrs old) & Kaden (8 yrs old).

It was a fun, hilarious, serious, and fascinating experience for everyone.

The night started with a great dinner prepared by Jill, complete with locally grow, fresh corn-on-the-cob.  Yes, that’s relevant to the story. But no, not in the way you’re thinking.  Get your mind out of the gutter.

Before we get into it, you need to understand Spencer & Kaden.  Spencer is the attentive, logical, scientific, good student.  He accepts what you say as gospel and tends to be very obedient.  Kaden often seems to be aloof – off in his own creative world.  Yet, he’s always listening.  He’s the deep thinker.  You wouldn’t always know it, but he has deep insight into many things.

With our medical backgrounds, Jill and I planned to approach the talk from a scientific standpoint first and then transition into a discussion of morality, chastity, and obedience.  We paper-clipped the necessary diagrams, photos, and laproscopic images, made a quick game plan, and jumped right into the discussion.

Since the boys were aware of Jill’s surgery last year, we figured we’d start there.  We explained that mom can’t have babies anymore because she doesn’t have a uterus.  At this point, the boys were attentive and following just fine.

Then we got into how a baby grows inside the uterus.  We showed diagrams of an egg coming from the ovary (from mom) and sperm (from dad) joining the egg and creating cell that splits over and over again and grows into a baby.  During this time, Spencer was nodding his head, following along just fine.  It all made perfect sense to him.  Kaden, on the other hand, held a perplexed look on his face until finally he blurted, “Wait! How did that sperm get in there?”

It’s not necessarily a funny question, but it broke the tension Jill and I were feeling and we all ended up laughing pretty hard.

After we finished explaining how the baby grows inside the mom, along with all of the female anatomy (met with Kaden hysterically laughing – to the point of crying) it was time to explain male anatomy.  More laughing and rolling on the floor.

Puberty was the next topic.  They both thought growing hair in their armpits was a rather hilarious subject.  I explained all the changes that their bodies would be going through including changes below the waist, acne, muscle growth, hair in various places, and a deepening voice.  We spent a few minutes talking about how the development of an “Adam’s Apple” causes a guy’s voice to get deeper.  Right in the middle of that discussion, Spencer blurted “Finally!!!!”  Jill and I thought for sure he was excited to finally develop a deeper voice.  But his sentence continued, “Finally!!!! I got the corn out of my teeth!”  Jill and I busted up with nervous laughter (because the big stuff was still coming).

As we got to the point where we actually had to tell them EXACTLY how all this works, I realized that I hadn’t rehearsed that part in my head beforehand.  So, I went in circles a few times trying to find the words.  I could feel Jill tensing up, probably wondering why the heck I wasn’t just getting to the punch line.  Well, the punch line eventually came and it was met with acceptance from Spencer and total confusion from Kaden.  Don’t get me wrong, he understood completely what we had just explained.  He was just mentally trying to figure out the logistics.

He abruptly stood up, thrust his hips forward, and said “So, you just stick it in there?”  Again, the ice-breaker.  Jill and I were immediately rolling.

Needless to say, it was a great experience for all of us (I think).  Jill and I hope it’s the start of many talks with our boys and relationships where they can be 100% open and honest with us.  They’re good boys.  We love them to death.

So, a couple of days ago we started the process by submitting the initial paperwork.  We talked to our kids about it and asked them to pray that we’ll be able to make the right decisions.

Last night, Ashton, our 4 year old, said our family prayer.

During the prayer, he said:

Thank you that we could get a new baby.  Thank you that someone else doesn’t want their baby anymore and they’ll give it to us.

Funny, sad, & poignant – all at the same time.

Ever since President Clinton’s “I didn’t have sex with that woman” affair with Monica Lewinsky, many have cried, “Why should it matter what our politicians do in their personal lives?” They continue on, “It doesn’t matter what happens in the president’s bedroom as long as he’s a good president”.

I argue that these justifiers are way off base. Commitment to sexual purity is just one area that should be carefully scrutinized in every politician.

Some of the most difficult struggles of this life are those of self-mastery. All of us are in a constant to battle (or at least we should be) between our righteous desires and our carnal desires. As man gives in to the wants of the flesh he over-eats, he indulges in illicit sex, he seeks narrow-mindedly after lucre, he covets, and his vanity increases. When the flesh is winning the internal battle, the soul is losing. And when the soul loses, the mind becomes irrational.

The most important commitment a man will make is in the covenant of marriage. He pledges, among other things, to be true to his wife for eternity. If a man is willing to break that sacred commitment, what other commitments might he be willing to break? If he cannot be true to is wife, how can he be expected to be true to his constituents? If he has the capacity to throw all reason out the door in a moment of passion, why would he not forget his honor when presented with lucrative, under-the-table offers? If a man has shown that he cannot control his eating habits, how can he be expected to control his desire for power, love, or money? If our politicians are so vain that they think the law no longer applies to them, why do we entrust them with the creating, commissioning, and sustaining of our laws?

What a man does in his secret time is indicative of his character. Character is not charisma. Character is not the ability to lead the masses. Character is not charm. Character is not pride. Character is not producing movies about the latest current issue. Character is defined by how a man spends his quiet moments. Character is what a man thinks about when all other thoughts have retreated. Character is revealed when only God is watching.

The general character of American society has deteriorated to the point that the average adult does not see the connection between personal character and the ability to magnify a public office. Americans, in an attempt to justify their own sinful acts, readily forgive those same acts of those who they want to follow. Rather, men follow others who sin in order to justify their own acts.

It is time that we Americans revive the character of our ancestors. Our society would greatly benefit from the standards of the past; when a man’s word meant something, when hard manual labor was respected, when a man’s marital fidelity was revered and infidelity and promiscuity were crimes.

Does sex in politics matter? Absolutely! As do all other facets of a man’s character. I have not even addressed the detriment that politicians’ character flaws have on our society, especially the youth. That is for another day.

Last night I found myself once again deeply engrossed in another episode of 24. Its the only TV show I watch. I’ve banned myself from watching all other TV for a very specific reason. Too much of our TV shows depict an amoral society and encourage the audience to believe it is good.

For example, Grey’s Anatomy had its season finale last night. The whole season revolved around a young, single, female intern having a sexual relationship with a married attending physician. The physician’s wife is set up to be a witchy woman and therefore the audience begins to cheer for the extramarital affair. The audience is encouraged to want the intern and the physician to continue their relationship. During the middle of the season they abstain and apparently go their separate ways, but the producers of the show always hint that there are feelings still there. In the last episode, just as the show had a chance to redeem itself and end this affair forever, lust takes over, all prior commitments and covenants are thrown out the window, and worst of all, the audience loves it.

Why it is that our society is so accepting of a show that denigrates traditional values?

Why does a show like 24, which depicts patriotic people defending freedom and liberty, have to start with a disclaimer: “Viewer Discretion Advised”?

Why does the movie United 93, again a movie that shows the heroic actions of a few people saving our country’s capital, get an R rating when other movies full of sex, crude and foul language, and suggestive material only get a PG-13 rating?

Why do we as a society sit back and accept this behavior from producers? Worse – why do we enjoy it?

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED – Check your thoughts!