Pineapples and No No Squares

**Warning: this blog has the word “boob” in it.  There I said it…process it, process it…you good?  Ok. **

I noticed that Liv was staring at me from across the room as we sat one evening watching TV as a family.  She was clear across the room…just staring at me.  Then I realized, she wasn’t staring at my face…her eyes were a bit south.

And into the silence she asked, very matter of factly, “Hey mom…” (not mama or mommy like a toddler is supposed to say…just Mom…like a dang teenager)

“Mom?”

“Yes baby…what is it?”

“Can I touch your boob?”

I heard your gasp from here…the air left my living room too.  Dead silence…shock and awe.

Did she really just ask me that?  But why… why in the world would she ask me that?

I looked to Brent for comfort to which he IMMEDIATELY looked down to the ground…he was tapping out…not help at all.

So I looked back at my beaming 3 year old and calmly said, “No darlin’.  You can’t”

“BUT WHY??!” she exclaimed.

“I dunno,” was my response…nailed it…parent of the year type stuff right there.

I diverted her attention and changed the subject out of SHEER shock.

This would be the beginning of what we will refer to as the “exploration” stage for Liv.  She became increasingly aware and curious about the Hammett NO NO Squares.  She had lots of questions and demanded answers about them and why they were there and why Papa didn’t have them and we did.

I began catching her looking at herself in the mirror and talking to herself about her body parts.  She was so into it you guys…it was crazy.

One night lying in bed after one such conversation I began to ask the Lord if we were handling the conversations the right way. (It may seem silly to ask that, but He wants us to go to Him for everything… so I did)  As I lay there I was overwhelmed by the truth of what He told me:

“I have given her to you.  You get to teach her EVERYTHING she knows.  Just teach her.  Give her the truth now, in her own home, so she doesn’t have to go looking for it somewhere else.”

Now, before you go and label me a weirdo let me clarify.  I am TERRIFIED by the responsibilities of being a parent.  I want the Lord to give me my every move because I want to point my child to Him EVERY CHANCE I GET…and let’s face it… without the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s wisdom the questions Liv was throwing at me at the age of 3 would have sent me rocking back and forth in the corner.

I don’t want to mess these opportunities up.

So, we decided to just answer her questions as straight forward as possible (age appropriately of course)…it was the only way.  It was hard to do without laughing…or crying or throwing up…but it was the way that we chose to do it.

We would have discussions about how our no-no squares were not for anyone else and that no one needed to see them or touch them.  She asked me what they were called and I told her… I told her as best I could that she had been created beautifully and that every part of her was special…I mean it was a landmine that I was navigating.

One night she walked into our room with her shirt off and pointed to her chest and said,

“MOM, THESE ARE MY PINEAPPLES AND THEY ARE ONLY MINE.
THEY ARE NOT YOUR PINEAPPLES THEY ARE JUST FOR ME.”

Pineapples? What the world?! This was her translation of “nipple” is all that we could gather.  We did not correct her… I mean come on what is more precious than that.  Have you ever heard such a sweet statement??  I know that you haven’t…don’t even try to lie.

She was beaming with pride over her statement.  She knew that she had something that was only hers…her pineapples belonged to only her…not anyone else…not even me.

She had pineapples, and they were beautiful and they were hers…and she knew it.

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Last week I believe that we witnessed a giant shift in our culture.

If you were living or breathing you either saw or heard of the photos that were released of Kim Kardashian.  They were full nude photos of her…full on nude…nothing hidden.

Kim Kardashian’s pineapples are now everyone’s pineapples.

And you didn’t have to search hard for them.  They popped up in my news feed on every social media form that I have.  They were there…whether I wanted to see them or not.

This is a massive shift and a new standard.  This will become our new normal… nothing hidden, complete nudity.   Those photos showed the world that bearing it all for everyone to see is glamorous and sexy and a standard that must be met.

I am not hatin’ on Kim…I’ve been “keepin’ up” with her for years (you only get that if you are brave enough to admit you watch her show).  She’s beautiful…like drop dead gorgeous.  I’m just saying that her actions can help us take a temperature of the world that we live in.

We (Christians) are losing the battle in our world on the topic of sex.  Sex is actually not a taboo topic anymore as much as it is a way of viewing the world.  We live in a sex saturated world.

Everywhere you look there is SOMETHING sexual.

I mean come on… Herbal Essences using a sexual experience to sell shampoo (we all know it ain’t like that…at least not the Herbal I use).

Zesty salad dressing being sold by being the proverbial “leaf” over a nude man’s no-no square.  Sick…salad dressing has never seemed so inappropriate.

Sex is one of the top addictions that people struggle with and is quickly becoming the most used form of abuse.

The enemy has used sex to wreck marriages, childhoods and entire lives.

The world has taken our bodies and made them for fame and attention…and for the highest bidder. God created them for intimacy and with great value and worth. CLICK TO TWEET THIS  Our bodies are for the secret places with our spouses.

We are losing this battle.

Do you want to know why?

Buckle your seat belts all you wild ones!!  We’re gonna do a THREE PART SEX SERIES!!  (can you hear the blog numbers plummet??  The alarms are going off…all the sex alarms)

We don’t have to shrink back from the dialogue that’s happening in our world.  Let’s get this stuff straight and open our mouths about the redeeming truths that our God has given us!