Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Unplugged.



This weekend went...Unplugged.

To start with, my irritation with that mind-numbing box for selling "soft-sin" that sat in my living room finally put me over the top. Now it's in our basement...Unplugged.

No more "baby-sitter" with a cord. We didn't let the t.v. be on that often prior to this weekend, but now it sits in the "dungeon" with its twin and all its technical partners.

To be honest, it's really hard to define, but what we do notice is that our kids (& ourselves) seek God more fervently, love each other more sincerely, and have a lot more self-control when the tube is dark. I truly believe that, for all of its beneficial uses, too often it becomes a conduit for selling selfish thoughts & impatience. And our family benefits from its silence. We'll keep "Tubey" around a while longer, but for now we'll let him rest peacefully.

Secondly, my "Not today" got Unplugged.

Take Jaden, Kellen, & Sage turkey hunting? Well, "Yes, today". We dressed in camo, drove through a creek, ate candy bars, talked about our Great God, army crawled in the dirt, hid behind sagebrush and little cedar trees, made turkey calls, and, oh, yeah, saw some turkeys. What a blast!

Add to that some frisbee, dodgeball, cuddling, Mountain Dew, drum circles, dancing, praying, conversations about our Awesome Lord, and lots of laughing.

"Not today"...Unplugged.

Thirdly, worship Unplugged.

Just two voices, a guitar, a djembe, & a sermon on our need for Jesus. Simple. Like our relationship with God should be...Simple. No PhD required. No multi-media effect required. No coffee kiosk required. No special Bible required. Really there are only two requirements: "...sincerity and truth." (Joshua 24:14)

God gave us a plethera of good things (including t.v.) to enhance our experience of trusting and serving Him, but every now and then the "good things" seem to distract our eyes and interests from the One who gave them to us.

So...have I gone Amish? Are we trading our minivan in for a horse and buggy?

I'd be lying to say that it doesn't seem appealing from time to time, but the Unplugged version of life reminded us this weekend that "All of life, comes down to just One thing. That's to know You, O', Jesus!, & make You known."

Maybe we should Unplug more often...

11 comments:

Beautiful Mess said...

At one point my family gave up tv for "what turned into" 5 months! We read every night. It was amaizing for my children who were 16 & 11 at the time.

Thank you for the reminder! Awesome! God bless!

laura said...

excellent

Sister Haiti said...

I can't remember if I sent you a message already or not. My husband and I are researching adoptions from Uganda and from Amani. I'd love to ask you some questions. Would you mind emailing me? sis2kensia@yahoo.com

Thank you!

Unknown said...

Love the post! We have "screen-free" days each Sunday. No TV, no computer, no movies, no Wii... We love it! It's amazing what even a few hours without the distraction can accomplish in our hearts and with our attitudes!

syd said...

this really encouraged me!
B blessed friend

Beautiful Mess said...

Hope you all are well, missing hearing about your family. No pressure :)

________________________
Extreme Makeover: Jesus Edition

Because I am leaving a comment on your page, that means I am a “follower” of your story I am not a random person just posting for posting sake.

I don’t know if this breaks blog etiquette or something. But I am risking it anyway.

I have posted a blog called “Extreme Makeover: Jesus Edition” about a family that needs our help.

Go, read, if you feel led.

Side note: for you adoption/foster advocates, there is another post that is “messing” with me if you care to check it out and comment. It is the previous post and it is called “Living Freely: Foster Care and THE CHURCH”

Hear my heart fellow bloggers, I am seeking nothing selfishly. Just trying to do the will of the ONE who sent me. Praise the Lord!

Anonymous said...

It is so great to see our Amani kids growing and thriving and living day by day in a way we could never provide for them. Amazing still that they had such a great start at Amani to begin with. Now, you and others are continuing the work with these precious kids that we started. God is great

Jim and April said...

Hello! just found your blog! We are adopting our first child from Uganda! Feel free to visit our blog www.starkeyadoption.blogspot.com

Mom to the 6th said...

Just wanted to let you know that there's an award for you on my site
: )

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

You have a beautiful family!

Your dad sent me to your blog because I am looking for adoption stories to share as guest posts on my blog. I'd love to share yours! If you are interested, would you please email me?

Jenna said...

Hi
My name is Jenna and I came across your site. It is great to give up tv, for family time, and doing others things other than tv all the time. What a great post!
I was born with a rare life threatening disease, and I have 13 other medical conditions. I love it when people sign my guestbook. www.miraclechamp.webs.com