We grew up with a television
When I was little televisions in the home were a fairly new thing. They were big and bulky, and sat on the floor. Televisions had only been available to the general public for about thirty years, which isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things. My dad grew up with a radio, and weekly trips to the theater, where they would get their news and things of that nature. When they got their first television everything was in black and white. He and his siblings were thrilled, and felt as though they really had something special. They were the first generation to have such a thing.
It became the norm within a few years for every home in America to have a television in their living room. So, by the time I was born it would’ve been considered weird for us to not have one. Therefore we grew up with a television in our living room. My parents did a pretty good job of allowing us to use our imaginations. We would play outside or in our rooms rather than sit in front of it all the time. Until we got a bit older anyway. Then the allure of it got us. We would get sucked into whatever my parents were watching and not want to play as much. We were watching things that weren’t good for us mentally, morally, or spiritually. My parents, however, did not realize that at the time. And so began the trend of newly found disobedience and too much television indulgence.
In the beginning we had a television
Our standards for the way we live our life are much different today than they were in the beginning. We have learned and grown a LOT in the past 17 years. In the beginning of our marriage we didn’t see anything wrong with having a TV as the focal point of our living room. After all we both grew up with one. In his home it was used as a babysitter. In my home it started out recreational, or for a fun reward. We would do family movie night or watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. In both of our homes, though, it became a problem. It was a problem that neither of us realized was a problem at first. It was just what we knew to be normal.
The way we saw it, it was what we grew up with, and as long as the house was clean and there was food on the table three times a day everything was good. We indulged in far too much television viewing. It was mostly “innocent” things like Food Network, and HGTV. The point I am trying to make, though, is that it was far too much! We were not growing spiritually. We were not the parents or business owners we could have, and should have been. It was too much!
The struggle to get rid of the television.
I am ashamed to admit it, but I really enjoyed sitting on the couch with my two little ones, watching cooking and home reno shows. The kids and I would talk about how pretty everything was, and how delicious the food looked. I did not see a problem with this. At least not until I started trying to homeschool our eldest. She was four at the time, and had zero interest in anything I was trying to teach her. I was frustrated and so was she. At first I thought that maybe the problem was that it was new and would just take time to adjust. After a month I figured out that was not the problem. Then I started to think that she was too young. She was very smart so I didn’t stick with that idea very long. I had to figure it out.
So, I began to evaluate our lives with a magnifying glass. The one big thing that I kept coming back to was the fact that I had been turning the TV off every day after breakfast, and it didn’t come back on until Aaron got home and turned it back on. She was glued to it with E6000 or something. So, one morning I decided to see what would happen if I never turned it on to begin with. Something amazing happened after leaving it off for only one morning. Her mind seemed to be freed. After the second day she was already focusing so much better. That became the norm. It wasn’t long before she started wanting to do other things also. Like crafting, she had better ideas than I did at times. Her creativity still amazes me.
It did not take me long to begin petitioning Aaron to get rid of it altogether. He was not as convinced as I was since he was always at work when I was homeschooling the kids. He would say things like, “I want to just sit with the kids and relax when I get home.” and, “I pay for it I should be able to watch it if I want to.” I love and respect him, so I refused to nag him about it. I just simply turned to God in prayer.
The shift
Fast forward about a year and a half. Aaron has taken his first pastorate. In order to minister to the people of the church better we have moved to the inner city. This was far outside my comfort zone, but I knew without a doubt that was where God wanted us for the time being. One day we were out on visitation and ran into another like minded pastor from the area. He invited us to a pastor’s fellowship that was held once a month. We were eager to go, considering we had been praying for some other pastor’s and their wives to come into our lives. We felt like we needed others who shared our calling. This was an answer to prayer.
We didn’t know what to expect at first so Aaron had me stay home with the kids. When he got there he saw a couple of pastor’s we had known for a while, but hadn’t seen in about two years. Then while he was talking to one of them he noticed a man and his wife coming through the door. He turned from the conversation he was having and went to the man. That man was Aaron’s childhood pastor. He had tried to find him a few times since we got married. He wanted to let him know that he had finally surrendered to Christ. It was such a happy reunion.
That pastor asked if we had school aged kids in our church. Then he invited him to a youth rally. When Aaron told me about it I was excited to go check it out. Our kids weren’t quite old enough to participate yet, but I wanted to see what it was all about. Remember I said I didn’t want to be a nag about the TV. That doesn’t mean I was silent about it, only that I was not going to push the issue. I had mentioned it casually to Aaron about two weeks or so before we went to this rally. I had continued in prayer about it for almost two years. Wouldn’t you know that the preacher at the rally had something to say about the TV being the focal point of your home?! The switch happened.
God is faithful
God has never failed me! In all of our years of marriage, any time My husband and I do not see eye to eye, I turn to God. He is so faithful that every time, no matter how long it takes, we end up eye to eye. Now that does not mean that God caters to my every whim or irrational, emotion driven spaz attack. He often changes my attitude or mind about a situation. This time though, I got my way! As soon as that preacher said what he said, my husband leaned over to me, in obedience to God and said, “You were right the TV is gone.” It was like music to my ears!
You can bet that I wasted no time getting that TV out of our house. We had a small one in our bedroom that stayed. But the television was no longer the focal point of our home. There was no more temptation to have it on. I was so very happy. God had answered yet another prayer. We had new friends in the ministry. Now the television was gone. Life was great.
No matter what is going on you and I can always find refuge in God, and know that he is faithful. There is not a lot in this life that is consistent, but God is. Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (KJV) I Corinthians – God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)
Trial and error
In life there is a lot of trial and error. Some of it comes from others you are looking up to. Most of it though, comes from your own personal faults and failures. That is how we learn and grow. As people and as christians. That being said, after about ten years my dad gave us a TV. I was not thrilled about it, but thought we could just give the little one we had in our room to someone else, and replace it with this bigger one. That was not what everyone else had in mind. Since I had just given birth to our seventh child, i didn’t fight too much. I didn’t want to lift it and all so it sat. It sat right there in the living room floor.
This proved to be a huge error on my part. I should’ve just told my dad we didn’t want it. Or at the very least moved it out of sight. Because I did not do this, it only took about two days for the kids to talk Aaron into setting it up on the mantel. He figured that would give me peace and quiet while I recovered in my room with my new baby. His intentions were good. Unfortunately good intentions don’t always yield good results. For one year we had a TV in our living room again!
Getting back on track with the amazing benefits
This changed two weeks ago. I had enough! I removed the TV after a very short, almost one-sided conversation with Aaron. Within the first few days I saw significant, positive results in each of our seven children. Their focus was incredible. They were having creative play without prompting. Their bed rooms are clean! There has been very little fighting and arguing. I have seen zero negative results. Only amazing benefits going on!
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