no worthless thing
We are participating in a month long fast from TV right now, inspired by FamilyLife's "turn off the tv fast" campaign. This is very timely in that my boys are now pretty consistent nappers from about 1-3 p.m. So... I can't believe it but I was actually falling back into "checking in" on a certain soap opera. What a waste of time. I typically don't get to eat lunch until the kids are in bed so when you are alone and eating TV just seems like the thing to do. I was doing well until I finished my latest book, and today I was feeling pretty tempted. This verse is what keeps stopping me (which is on the static cling sign that is now on our tv): Psalm 101:3 "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes".
I think I will make some kind of large sign with that verse to be put permanently above our TV. When we moved into this house we put the TV in the basement to discourage ourselves because we didn't want it to be a big part of our daily life. The couch down there is horribly uncomfortable anyway. In theory you really have to want to watch a specific thing in order to go sit in that yucky basement. Too many times we've been over at friends' houses and the TV and accompanying furniture and equipment basically creates a large shrine right in the middle of the main room. There's no getting away from it. It's especially bad when the kids are there. I typically like to watch shows on the food network and discovery health channel or the learning channel - most all of which aren't "worthless". It's the flipping channels just because I feel like being a potato where I find trouble. How many times have I watched CSI and come away with terrible thoughts of "what if that happened to my kid?" and also felt overwhelmed at how much housework I have yet to do, and there an hour or two has gone by in front of the set with nothing accomplished.
All of that said, why is it so tempting then?
posted by ftmomma @ 10:37 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Definitely not. The premise was just that for the month of August, it would be awesome to see families turn off the t.v. and see what happens. A quote from the FamilyLife site: "Fasting from TV will limit isolation in your family and give you time to do all those little things you have been putting off. It will cause you to take a close look at the amount of time your family sits in front of the TV and to think through better ways to use that time." We have now ended the fast and have gone back to watching some food network shows, OSU football (of course!) mythbusters, etc. but it is interesting. It's had the effect of Matt and I developing the appetite for evenings without t.v. (they are much better!) and also allowed us to see our habits in a new light. Not that we were addicted or constantly watching, but just turning it on when we didn't really even want to watch anything in particular, and time that could have been quality was wasted. I definitely agree with you that when you actually choose a show, it can be great. It's the channel flipping that sucks us down the drain. :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home