I have a suggestion for you of something simple that you can do that will almost automatically strengthen the relationships in your family. Your children will be closer to each other. Your marriage will likely improve. When you do this one simple thing communication between family members will improve. With this one simple act many precious hours of time will be saved. With one simple act you will improve the atmosphere of your home. There will be a more reverent spirit there.
Your home will be quieter. You will be more likely to enjoy edifying Christian radio or Internet programming. You will develop a greater appreciation for music. You will read more. What is this simple thing that you can do that will have so many positive lasting effects on your home?
It is simple. We did it about fifteen years ago. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. Maybe you are curious what that decision was. We chose to remove the television from our home. We just put it in a box one day and drove to my grandmother’s house and gave it to her as a gift. She lived alone and had cable so she could watch reruns of old westerns with the volume up real loud.
Occasionally we rent a video or a friend records a football game for us. For a week or ten days after the terrorist attacks of September 11th and during the beginning of the Iraq war we watched a television almost every day. But all those other years we have gotten along wonderfully without a television. It would be difficult to
We have cut off a major avenue of nudity, blasphemy, worldly philosophies and profanity. We have saved hours of time. And it was such a simple thing to do. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I often thank God I did it. I recommend the same to you.
Our daughter Holly was small when we removed the TV and she was pretty attached to the television set. She wandered around the house aimlessly for a few days like she had lost her best friend. “What should we do now, without a TV,” she said once. I said, “You still have me. Let’s go out and play, or we can go to the library.” Since then she has read hundreds of books.
We don’t spend our evenings watching kids speak disrespectfully to their fathers. We would rather read a great classic or a wholesome novel or an edifying missionary biography. We aren’t entertained by fornication and adultery and sexual innuendo and perversion pitched as normal. We would rather sample the girls baked goods and read by the fire. We don’t let other wear down our natural revulsion at sin watching one act of violence and murder after another. We would rather play chess or just sit around and talk.
All this because of a simple decision we made years ago. If you try it I think you will be glad you did.
Kenneth L. Pierpont
[email protected]
Riverfront Character Inn International Conference Center
Flint, Michigan
July 8, 2003