The Phil Robertson homosexuality controversy made my kids want to watch Duck Dynasty even more. We don’t watch a lot of TV, but I have to admit that while the boys were gone over Christmas break, I spent a ridiculous amount of time sorting socks and attacking other mundane chores in front of Duck Dynasty’s Christmas marathon, and I loved every minute of it!
I think part of the reason I love it so much is because I too sometimes feel trapped in an unreal world with a bunch of wacky characters. At any time, any one of my boys could be a Willie or a Jase or even an Uncle Si.
One of the things about the show that absolutely fascinates my older boys is how these crazy, bearded, rednecks ended up with such beautiful, classy wives. I’m sure my boys dream of having wives like that one day and want to know the Robertson family secret so here is my take on that.
Beautiful Wives, the Robertson Family Secret:
As much as the Robertson family insults and laughs at, ridicules and mocks one another, as much as they get into trouble and have the rest of the world shaking their heads, this is a family that shares loving respect for one another, a family in which the members can lean on one another, a family where male and female strengths are obviously different and incredibly valued, a family in which the male is the leader spiritually and physically and the woman is honored and cherished, and a family in which children look to adults for an education far more important than that found within the confines of a classroom.
And living that does have a big influence on teen dating and the beauty and class of our children’s future spouses.
Having that support and openness and living those lessons and values every day has a tremendous influence over a child’s life. A boy learns how to treat his parents, his children, and his future wife. A girl learns the beauty and power of femininity that reaches beyond the physical and channels it to benefit her family. Both learn their value as different and equal contributors.
How This Apply to Teen Dating and Marriage:
Thinking about how those men ended up with those beautiful Duck Dynasty wives makes me consider how I am raising my children and the lessons I am giving them as we consider teen dating.
I question the support I give my children and how willing they would (or wouldn’t) be to come to me with problems, or better yet, to come to me before problems arise. I question my willingness to place the responsibility on my children to come to me rather than my taking the initiative to go to them. I question the values my children get from what they see me do, from how I treat others, and from how I treat myself. I question what lessons my children see me execute day in and day out. I question how I am teaching my boys to become the men they were designed to be.
So, while it may seem superficial to say that I want my boys to date and marry women as classy and beautiful as the Duck Dynasty wives, I do.
I know now that beauty and class have less to do with any physical attributes and more to do with how you treat yourself and others.
I care that my boys value themselves as leaders of their families, that they marry women who understand their own value, and that both my boys and their future wives value each other as equal and beautiful members of a God-Blessed unit.
This is what I pray my boys achieve in their marriages.
And that is something that cannot wait to happen magically at the altar. Those lessons happen piece by piece, little by little in every day situations and lessons observed when we don’t even realize our children are watching.
And this is the beauty and class that shines through in the beautiful Duck Dynasty wives.
And it is the beauty that shines through those crazy, bearded rednecked husbands.
And it is that beauty and class I teach my children to pray for and look for and wait for while considering dating and marriage.
And it will be in that achievement of that praying, searching, and waiting that my boys can marry women as beautiful and classy as the Duck Dynasty women.
And this is the beauty and class I pray my children discover in all of their future relations and in all of the lessons they choose to recreate in their own lives and within their own families.
What do you think of teen dating? What do beauty and class mean to you? Who emulates beauty and class in your life? How can we help our teens realize the importance of beauty and class that reaches beyond the physical and help prepare them for spouses as internally beautiful and classy as God created them to be? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
The Beautiful and Classy Robertson Family Women:
God Bless…