At what cost?

If any of you are at all like my wife, you have been following the "Jon and Kate plus 8" fiasco. To tell you the truth, I have never been a big fan of the show. My wife has always found it a little fascinating to see how a couple raises 8 children. I always felt like it was very unrealistic. After all, how many other couples in the world have a full time camera crew, nannies, paid vacations, huge free birthday parties at wonderful places, and yet still do not have to work. It just didn't strike me as a "true read" on the parenting thing. We are raising 4 children under 5 and we don't get any of those advantages. Our birthday parties are usually held at home or at the church fellowship hall. We haven't been on vacation since May of 2001 (our honeymoon). We have no camera crew or nanny to help when its bedtime. Nope. Its all on us. That's okay. We chose this life. We chose to have the children. I'm not complaining one bit. I just think the t.v. show isn't realistic. All that being said though, my wife and I have come to 2 conclusions:

#1 We will not watch the show anymore. This will hurt me a lot because, as I have already stated, I am a huge fan (wink, wink). We cannot, with a good conscience, sit and watch as a family self-destructs right before our eyes. No matter the reason. Whether it is his indiscretions or hers matters little to us. Infidelity is no laughing matter and I don't think God is pleased that we be any part of it. Also, it is very hard to see 8 innocent little children have to be dragged through all of this. They had no choice. They were thrown onto the "big screen" from day 1. They did not choose this lifestyle. Now they have to be part of the "side show" which is their parents destroying everything that they have worked so hard to build. It is very sad. Whether the marriage ends in divorce or not. Whether the show stays on television or not. There has been major damage done to this relationship and a family ( families are something that Satan hates more than anything) is going to have to fight, and fight hard, to save it.

#2 As we were watching this unfold over the last couple of weeks and last night, we realized something very important. Its not like we didn't already know this but it became even more clear to us: at what cost do we put our eternal souls in peril in the name of success? Remember when the show first started? They were so happy. They were just like any couple. So excited. So naive. So full of hopes and dreams for their futures and the futures of their children. They already had twins and now she was getting ready to have 6 more. Oh my! But they didn't care. They were loving parents. They loved each other and they knew that they would be able to handle this no matter what. Then the money started flowing. Television cameras. Fame. Books. 50 to 75 thousand dollars an episode. They moved from a modest home in Pennsylvania to a 1.1 million dollar home. They had everything in the world they could have hoped for...except happiness. Now, in the middle of all of the fame and fortune that they so desperately wanted, the one thing that they did have, happiness, is the one thing that is eluding them. I wonder if they wish they could go back to the way it used to be? I wonder what they would give up now to be the happy family they were 4 or 5 years ago? I wonder if the price they paid for all of this was worth the cost?

Its very sad. I truly hope that they can put this back together and save this family. This scenario is played out all over the world thousands and thousands of times every day. I hope that we can see, no, I hope the world will see, that the devil is out seeking whom he may devour. He always paints a pretty picture. Once we get into the beautiful grassy field on the other side of the fence though, we find out that the grass really wasn't as green as we thought it was. The price the devil exacts from us is always higher than what we first bargained. Sad, sad, sad. I hope the world can learn from this. I hope that Jon and Kate can save their marriage. I hope they get saved then the marriage will be saved. Stay strong and stay prayed up. Until next time...

LW