I've always loved tv. Over my lifetime, my favorites have been the Snorks, the Jetsons, the Smurfs, Care Bears, Little House on the Prairie, Full House, the Brady Bunch, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, Commish, 90210, Lifetime movies, 7th Heaven, CSI, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and currently- HGtv!!! I don't even want to KNOW how many years of my life have been spent in front of the tube!!
A few weeks ago, we gave up tv for Lent. Not movies, just cable. I didn't even know the term, Lent, meant anything other than fuzz in your pocket, until I met Louis. Anyhow, we've shared this tradition of giving up something to spend more time in prayer and Bible reading for as long as we've been married. It has made us realize we NEVER can measure up to our PERFECT Savior, Jesus Christ! Anyhow, we called to cancel cable two days before Ash Wednesday and they just got around to turning it off today (based on our billing cycle). In the beginning we were worried about cancelling it altogether (what about tornado warnings, you know?- thank goodness for the internet!). The cable was shut off around 4 pm today....it felt strange- like we were cutting ourselves off from the world! I've been praying about this decision, but I guess a part of me almost regretted it at first, until about 2 hours later when Anna said a terrible word. She just said it, PLAIN AS DAY. We were stunned! Where had she heard this word? "TV', Abigail stated, innocently. Talk about AFFIRMATION!
A few weeks ago, we gave up tv for Lent. Not movies, just cable. I didn't even know the term, Lent, meant anything other than fuzz in your pocket, until I met Louis. Anyhow, we've shared this tradition of giving up something to spend more time in prayer and Bible reading for as long as we've been married. It has made us realize we NEVER can measure up to our PERFECT Savior, Jesus Christ! Anyhow, we called to cancel cable two days before Ash Wednesday and they just got around to turning it off today (based on our billing cycle). In the beginning we were worried about cancelling it altogether (what about tornado warnings, you know?- thank goodness for the internet!). The cable was shut off around 4 pm today....it felt strange- like we were cutting ourselves off from the world! I've been praying about this decision, but I guess a part of me almost regretted it at first, until about 2 hours later when Anna said a terrible word. She just said it, PLAIN AS DAY. We were stunned! Where had she heard this word? "TV', Abigail stated, innocently. Talk about AFFIRMATION!
Wow, I really admire that you did that! We cut ours down to the basic package a few months ago to cut costs. I thought I would really miss certain shows/channels but I haven't. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWow, Mari, what an awesome decision you guys are making. It's something I've often thought (usually in passing only) might be needed to be done in our home as well, but I haven't spent any time in prayer about it or even discussed it with Kraig. Taylor's just to the age now where she's started repeating a few things hear and there that she hears on TV and, fortunately, it's not been anything inappropriate thus far, but it doesn't mean that's not coming. Of course, I try to only let her watch age appropriate things, but often in the evenings Kraig and I are watching our shows and though most of the time she seems engrossed in her own play, I'm sure things are still filtering in to that sweet little mind of her's. I read a blog of a woman with four small children and they made the decision a couple years ago to completely remove TV from their house...like, they don't even have a television set. She ocassionally allows her children to watch a movie on the portable DVD player and she and her husband often watch movies or TV show series that they've rented from Netflix on their laptop. She says her reasons for doing this are many, but some include that she wants to fully monitor what her children are watching and it's a lot easier to do this way. Also, it's a lot easier to not watch so much when it's not as simple as pushing a button, but has to be more planned and take more effort. She also felt there was way to much advertising going in to her kids' brains as she felt they were seeing things on TV and deciding they wanted it...whether it be toys or snacks or whatever. Much luck to you and Louis as you do this!
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