My wife and I have been contemplating turning off the TV
for three or four months (more her than me).
We had begun to see a change in our youngest daughter’s life and her behavior. She was
moving towards defiance, smart mouthed, etc., and over four weeks ago our daughter had the TV on and my wife just
happened to be walking through the TV area and overheard the show promoting
sex. This is a show on TEEN NICK and it was 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon. My wife immediately went to the phone and
called the TV company and had
the TV turned off! The TV
company made several failed attempts to keep our business by offering free TV for
three months, giving a break in the bill, etc. etc.
So, now at nights our family sits down and we do the "READY, SET, GO". My little
girl has been taking notes and we talk about the message from the day
before. We have also been reading two
other books together ("Battle of the Mind" and "31 Days of Prayer"). Our family life has had it’s trials, but our spiritual
life and prayer life has deepened ten-fold.
Yes, we have our attacks from Satan but my Lord and Savior who
parted the Red Sea is REAL in our lives. It has been the best decision we have
made. I wish we would have done this
years ago. We have set up a family
meeting night to discuss issues and concerns that family members might have and
want to discuss.
My youngest and I teach the four year olds at Westside church in Truthtown– she teaches and I just oversee. We have such a special time together in our time
to serve. We study the lesson beforehand
and she interjects ideas she wants to include.
It has been a blessing to be in the four year old room!
Now, after 5 weeks with the cable turned off, we have experienced more communications with each other and we don't even miss the t.v.. As a family, we talk more in the evenings and have a deeper relationship in our prayer lives and devotions. God has moved so much in our lives. I wish that we would have turned the t.v. off years ago....it is such a robber of our time. Our daughter was so affected by the shows she was watching, but now without all the distraction, her attitude has changed. She is now real loving and caring and has an earnest love for God's Word. The turn around has been great!
Sincerely,
Randy Thomas