Living without TV

Sometimes I don't appreciate God's sense of humor. In July, we decided to put our TV on vacation hold (a cool DirecTV feature) until October 1. We realized we were watching too much TV as it was, and a break would be good for all of us. Little did we know that our TV would be unavailable until then.

Right before we left to go to Colorado in July we had a toilet overflow in the 2nd floor bathroom that destroyed the living room ceiling. On July 13 (a Friday to boot) we left to go on vacation as the emergency contractors hired by the insurance company were ripping out our living room ceiling. As of September 3, we still don't have use of that room, and all of our furniture is stacked in the dining room, including the TV. Needless to say, we are unhappy with the insurance company's "PREFERRED CONTRACTOR", and we hope to have our living room back soon.

I tell you this not to evoke sympathy for us. Yes it has been a hassle having 1/2 of the first floor virtually unusable. When Deb and the girls are sleeping, I have very few places I can go and read. I do miss my couch and recliner. But I am getting some reading done. The girls have been reading quite a bit, which is something we wanted to encourage anyway.

I'm also going to bed earlier, which is one of the goals of my "Rule of Life." I tend to stay up later watching television, and then am groggy in the morning.

The greatest benefit was this weekend. Not having TV kept me from seeing the greatest debacle in NCAA Football history. The #5 ranked team in the country, the University of Michigan, lost at home to a Division 1-AA team. This is akin to the Washington Generals beating the Harlem Globetrotters. Except that it counted.

I am thanking the Lord for Prevenient Grace, which kept me from throwing something through my television when that happened.

How would Jesus Pastor?

Take a look at this article on Charles Sheldon. I'm in the process of reading In His Steps, and I love it. It's not great literature, that is true. But it is thought-provoking and inspiring to think of how the world would be different if people actually lived their lives based on the question "What would Jesus do?" It follows the story of the fictional town of Raymond which is transformed when a dying stranger wanders into a church service and asks, in a roundabout sort of way, the question "what would Jesus do?"

It's a good, quick read, and an inexpensive paperback book to pick up. I'm enjoying it immensely, and it presents a very different, action-based, not intellectual, form of discipleship.

Your local library probably has a copy.