Miley Cyrus broke my heart last week.

All four of my daughters loved watching Hannah Montana before we got rid of cable. Even after dumping cable they still watched reruns on Netflix. I have always thought the Disney channel destroys young female actresses, but I guess I was hoping deep down that Miley would be different than the many other female child stars who graced Disney.

As of the date of this blog post thousands of teens are being exposed to Miley’s barely covered bust on the current issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. While I am trying to explain the value of modesty to my four daughters, one of their childhood icons is running around baring as much as she can in the waiting lines of grocery stores all over America.

I realize, of course, that raising my daughters is not the responsibility of any celebrity. Her fame was gained from my dollar, so expecting her to maintain some kind of proper example to the girls who grew up idolizing her is not asking too much. I believe it is her duty. A way to “give back” if you will.

Maybe it’s the pressure being placed on her by society. “Stay young, beautiful and naughty” seems to be the requirement for success after years of playing innocent. I really hoped Miley would be able to find a different path than Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, but it appears that the call to fame, and a long lasting singing career, cries louder than the responsibility to be a positive example to those who helped you get started.

If I were speaking to an audience of men with pre-school girls, I would advise they dump the Disney channel as quickly as possible. It’s a lot easier to hear your daughters say, “Who is that?” than it is to hear them say, “Wow, Miley looks hot.”

Culture is so loud.

I feel outnumbered.

I listen to the radio with my daughters, and I try to listen for the negative messages being sent. Anytime network television is on I try to watch a little to keep my hand on the pulse of the messages being sent my daughters.

One thing that frustrates me is the commercials that come on during family-friendly content. You would think that this would be a pretty safe time to watch family friendly content. Because all of the commercials are political in nature there should be less provocative advertisements. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Just this week I was introduced to a commercial in which a woman’s virginity is compared to voting for the first time.

This isn’t a political blog, but I can’t help but comment on social issues especially when those issues impact my daughters.

I am so thankful my two teen girls see the value in abstinence. One wears a promise ring and the other one would except she doesn’t like wearing rings. I’m working on something for this one; I like the kind of accountability that comes along with wearing jewelry as a reminder, but I digress.

My frustration with the “birth control for teens” mindset is how low the standard is. Besides, how can we expect someone who can’t remember to take vitamins to be able to manage birth control?). I believe in my daughters’ ability to accomplish great things. I don’t even have to force this on them because they believe in it for themselves as well.

I’m not looking to control my daughters’ lives, but I am looking to offer them wise counsel; this is my responsibility as their father, and I will not shy away from it.

I’m just taking my cues from God. He operates in much the same way. He wants and expects great things from us. He does not force anything on us but gently nudges us in the right directions. When we make bad choices, He is always there to lift us back up and support us.

I will love my daughters regardless of their success or failure in any area of life. I will always be there for them, to love them no matter what happens either from their choices or the choices of others.

I will also love and accept them unconditionally just as God does for me.

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.