The Successful Failed Experiment

I think there will be some moaning and groaning around our house this week as the kiddos return from the grandparents.
They will find a drastic change waiting for them, a challenge of sorts. But I feel sure they can rise to the challenge just as they have in the past.
Something will be missing when they get home.
The cable tv has been disconnected!
Horrors!
Yes, actually the cable guy on the phone could hardly believe we were canceling. He kept saying "What will your kids do all Summer??" (Hhmmm...let's see...how about read, play, create, talk...) I think he actually contemplated called CPS.

This may seem sudden, but actually is all started a few months ago.
You see, at first we thought it strange that Pastor Charles Stanley advises people to start reading the bible in the book of Proverbs(stay with me here). But this year we started reading Proverbs with the kids. Its easy to keep up with because each chapter can coincide with a day of the month. So on the 19th, for example, we can read the 19th chapter...thru the 31st and then start back over on the 1st. If we miss a day then we can make it up next month. There is always something new to learn. The Proverbs really is a book replete with timely wisdom. Think of these simple but true proverbs which we would all do well to heed:
"Don't talk too much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow!" (10:19)
"It is better to be poor and godly than rich and dishonest." (16:8)
"A dry crust eaten with peace is better than a great feast with strife." (17:1)
"Any story sounds true until someone sets the record straight." (18:17)
"Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor, only fools insist on quarreling." (20:1)
"The Lord is more pleased when we do what is just and right than when we give Him sacrifices." (21:3)
The principle 'Bad company corrupts good character' is a truth found throughough the book of Proverbs.
Romans chapter 12: 2 also reminds us:
"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think..."
I'm just setting the stage here...
Anyway...
About the time we started reading in the book of Proverbs, we also moved to our new duty station. While signing up for internet service we decided to do a six month experiment with cable tv. Since moving back to the US from Zambia three years ago, we have not had cable or satellite tv for more than a handful of months. But we heard about DVR and thought maybe this was something that would help overcome our reticence...after all, we could record the shows we approved for viewing. It would be an ideal way to control the tv watching. And at the same time, we could skip thru the commercials that we find so offensive. Maybe, we thought, with some strict parental control and using these new features we could make cable tv something that could actually enjoy as a family. After all, with DVR we could tape all those great History and National Geo documentaries that could go right along with our homeschool subjects. Not to mention the stuff just for fun ( like watching Paula Deen cook up a batch of Ooey Gooey Butter bars on the FOOD NETWORK!).
The expermient began March 1st...
It ended today, June 21st.
Following are our findings, in a nutshell:

We found that there is nothing on television that is worth...
* The precious family time/interaction that it steals.
* Exposing our children to people that we would not let in the front door of our home!*Exposing our children and ourselves to subtle but powerful anti-God, anti-biblical ideas and biases.
*The $70-$80 per month price tag

And it didn't even take us six months to figure it out.
We tried. We really did. We locked out every show under PG . We carefully monitored the television viewing. We recorded "family friendly" shows.
But we basically found that the draw of the culture was too strong. For instance, even though we allowed our kids to watch two seemingly 'harmless' shows on the Disney channel and one on Nickelodeon, the "addiction" these shows created was ridiculous. In a short time, the same kids who once enjoyed family reading time, games, puzzles and outdoor activities could hardly be persuaded to wrench themselves away from their new "favorite" tv shows. And even though we limited viewing hours, it became the THING to look forward to every day - watching tv.
We tried using it as a homeschool tool. But that failed miserably thanks to the incredibly liberal and anti-Christian bent of the documentaries available. We never did make it thru a complete documentary on the History channel. Other shows that might have been educational (like one chronicalling David Livingstones trek across Africa , which we were particularly interested in) were downright disappointing because they chose to make it a "reality" show, displaying the egos, biases, and inexperiences of the so-called modern"explorers" making the journey.
But really, Mark's comments sum it all up:
"We haven't really found anything good about having television. All it does is open the door to our home to every type of wordly, ungodly influence we try so hard to battle. Our home is a haven for us, for our family. Television is simply the enemy's strategy to infiltrate our home."
Spoken like a true soldier.
And after making that statement, Mark said "Let's get rid of it! Now."
To which I wholeheartedly agreed. (that was yesterday)

So Happy Happy Father's Day! I called and cancelled it today.
You are a GREAT Dad, honey. You make me proud.
I think we can say that our failed experiment was TRULY a Success!!!

Aaaaahhhh.

"It is not by strength that one prevails..."

"It is not by strength that one prevails...", Hannah praised God with those words at Shiloh as she left her only child there -dedicated to the Lord's service. In her song of praise, she reflects on the deliverance and might of God. What do we have that He has not given us? Hannah knew that she was the recipient of God's blessing. When her own frail body refused to produce a child, she asked the Lord and 'the Lord remembered her'. She conceived and gave birth to Samuel.

Hannah reminds us that warriors are strengthened and kings are enthroned only by the might of the Lord. Children are born, fed, and clothed by His mercy. He brings poverty and wealth, humility and exaltation. "For the foundation of the earth is the Lord's; upon them He has set the world."
Truly I cannot prevail against this world in my own strength. None of us can. I am only recently reminded of that. My body does not cooperate with my desires. The things I long to do, I cannot do. I am uncomfortably limited and will be for some time. Endeavoring to slog through, persevere, and just grit my teeth - that good old "can do" spirit, well, it seemed to work for a time (a rather long time), But it was a facade. I am physically broken. It is only God's hand that has held me up (and continues to do so). I long to cook for my family, but I cannot. I long to pick up my son and hold him but I cannot. The very ones who I long to serve and care for are having to serve me. My mother has had to come and care for me like a little child. Friends are making our meals and cleaning the bathrooms. And it will be weeks of recovery.
It is humbling and... sacred.
Humbling, obviously -when you can't even bend over to pull up your own pants! But sacred...because I have this opportunity to receive from others. And I hold it like a precious treasure, this gift of their service and mercy...their patience...their acts of kindness and love.
And I actually have all this time to sit and think about it, to ponder their gift.

But I also have time to watch the news.
Which frightens me if I keep it on too long, because it all seems a bit overwhelming. It sure makes my crisis seem insignificant, what with world powers in conflict and all...
And then Mark will come home from work and shake my reality with news about a Memorial service he attended for 13 Marines killed in Afghanistan....and how his heart ached for the families, for the children, those sons and daughters whose Daddies will never come home. He will turn his face away when he is telling me this, because he doesn't want me to see that he is crying and that his day has been heavy with sorrow.
Again I am reminded that it is not by strength that one prevails. Yes, Hannah, you were right. Our own bodies are frail. Our world is bent on destruction. Our warriors fall in battle.
The only hope that we have is this: that the same God who holds the foundation of the world in His hand, is not haphazard. He is not random. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present. He does not change. Hannah's God is still the same.


"He will guard the feet of His saints"















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