19 January, 2010

Most of you know that we were "fasting" with our church from TV for one week! We only did TV! A lot of people did a whole Media fast! Like I said ... BABY STEPS!
So some things I observed from our fast!
  • We can live without it! We didn't go into convulsions-- we didn't start to sweat uncontrollably-- we didn't seem more agitated. Quite the opposite.
  • There was more peace in our home. The kids weren't fighting over who was going to watch what or for how long. The constant TV on in the background wasn't ruining my ability to have a civilized conversation on the phone w/o screaming... "turn that thing down!"
  • The kids realized that the world won't stop spinning if they miss their favorite show. There was no grumbling through out the week from them re: the fast. I stand amazed!
  • I felt more inner peace. I wasn't watching the news each night like I do, so I didn't have all the sin of the world weighing down my heart.
  • I got ALOT more things done around the house daily.
  • I spent more time reading my bible.
  • We did a lot more interacting with the kids. We talked, played games, did homework together!
  • The kids were getting on each other's nerves a bit more. They were playing together alot therefor not having much time "watching tv" away from each other or sitting silently on the couch.
  • Monkey and I had a lot more playtime together! We read more books, colored, and she even helped me with some housework.
  • I actually got to take a couple of naps while Monkey was sleeping! I usually try to do that every once in awhile, but I usually have too much stuff to do or I try doing it with the TV on. Well, no TV on-- sleep! N0 work to do, because I am caught up due to the TV not being on in the morning-- sleep!
  • I can hear the Lord more clearly when my mind isn't wrapped up in the TV. I honestly think that is why I had my meltdown. My mind wasn't going a mile a minute thinking about pointless things. My mind was clear of all that the TV puts in so I was able to hear him better when He needed me to. That is why I had heard that song a million times before, but never really HEARD it until now!!

So... some things will change around here for the good. I trust we can look back when faced with a TV show "crisis" and say... "it is okay... TV isn't that important!" I KNOW I will watch less news!! We have implemented family game night. We've done them before, but now it is a Family rule to have one each Friday night! I even think that we will do multiple TV fasts on our own through out the year! Reconnect, refocus, and rehabilitate our souls!


6 Comments:

  1. Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...
    Good for you my friend. It's freeing isn't it?
    Years ago when we had cable I found myself like a lot of people, waiting for their show to come on and making sure I was sitting there at that time to watch it. I was it's slave for part of the day.
    It was hard to get rid of at first mainly because of the kids shows. Because I admit I'd have the kids watch a few shows while I got work done but it didn't take long to adjust to that as well. I haven't "watched" the news in years and it is very nice not to have the stress of all that right before bed.
    Now a days we simply watch movies when and what we want to watch.
    Keep up the good work and enjoy your new found freedom!
    hugs
    Kim
    Emily said...
    That is so awesome! I feel inspired to do a tv fast here, but I'm not sure how the hubby would handle it. :) hmm, something to prayfully consider! Thanks for sharing about your family's week without it.
    Kathy C. said...
    Isn't it wonderful to have your mind free and peaceful of all that useless noise and pandemonium that comes from a box? LOL We haven't watched TV in years (just DVD movie nights), and I always go into a little bit of shock when I go into someone's home and they have the TV blaring. I wonder how they function, how they think and talk to their kids, etc...
    Have a beautiful day!
    Jessica said...
    I have wanted to try going without TV as well. I think that we may try giving it up for lent this year. We'll have to see how that goes. I think the benifits that your family experienced are wonderful, minus the squables :)
    Darcie said...
    My husband and I were both raised without TV's, but we have one now for our kids to use with their gaming system. So with that we have the 4 basic channels, and even though it is not on our main level or in our living room I still feel like we abuse it to much.

    Appreciated this post so much...thanks for sharing.
    Alexis AKA MOM said...
    Amen! I'm so jealous and proud, it's an amazing thing you guys did.

Post a Comment