My wife and I have been talking for months about whether or not we should get rid of our TV. And it’s a slow process. It first began by reducing from two DVR’s to one. Then it continued with cutting all of our cable but the bare minimum/basics so we can keep the one DVR to record the shows we like. Then my wife said, “Let’s give up TV for Lent.” And I immediately agreed.
This is not a big deal for a lot of you. Many of you don’t have TV’s, or you watch the bare minimum anyways. But for some of you, it would be a big deal. And it was a big deal for us, but an easy decision.
Here are some reasons…
- We found ourselves coming home and immediately turning the TV on, even if we weren’t watching it. That was scary.
- We noticed our 20mos old daughter always asking to watch her shows (Dora, Signing Time, etc.)
- We felt like we were in a big transition in life and needed the quiet to pray, hear God’s voice and discern wisely.
- We had lots to do that wasn’t getting done.
- We felt exhausted all the time and watching TV seem to perpetuate that.
- Lots of people we admire don’t own, or watch TV (The Saddington’s, The Steward’s, my cousins, my brother and sister-inlaw, etc.). We kept looking around and noticed that there was a correlation between those who didn’t have a TV, or watched it very limited, and the effectiveness of how they spent their time, their success, as well as the joy they seemed to have.
- It’s hard to really maintain a healthy level of relational connectivity and intimacy in our marriage if the TV is always on.
- We wanted to read more (our Bibles, as well as just our novels, theology, therapy texts, etc.).
- We wanted to set a better example for each other, especially our daughter.
- This is the testing ground to help us determine if we should cut cable completely and possibly get rid of our TV, or at least put it away.
And 36 Days In….
