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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Praying for Your Family - 27. Television

Does your family ever watch TV?

Are you laughing?

Did you maybe think that you could limit your kids' screen time to exactly ten minutes per their age in years? (Like a two year old gets 20 minutes maximum, and absolutely no other screen time.) How's that working out for ya?  Yeah.  Unless you are that 5 percent of the population who has managed to get rid of TV in their home (and I envy you), it's probably on for someone, at some point in the day for more than twenty minutes.  I go through seasons of needing the TV more or less to help with keeping the kids' attention.  First trimester of baby #3 - LOTS of movie time for my kids, because I was more exhausted and nauseous than I ever imagined possible. Now it's dialed back a bit to letting them watch a video for as long as it takes me to get through my morning Bible study, then when I'm done, we all get up and go outside (if possible).  They watch TV at other times, too, though, and in this transition season of needing to pack/unpack/clean I am letting go of trying to be the perfect mom who comes up with plenty of educational activities instead of videos.  I can only accomplish so many things at one time, and I'm okay with that.  My kids' newest favorites are old (the ones on sale) Dora and Diego episodes with 4 shows on one DVD, the Land Before Time series (they haven't seen the first 2, but by George - we've got the next 7 on two cheap DVDs), Thomas  movies and episodes on PBS, and Curious George. We have a ton of movies and educational DVDs, that are in storage.  So we are really getting to know these few shows we have for now.

Husband watch TV? Are you laughing again? Yeah, we are not in charge of his screen time, so we can just pray for him, too. ;) I used to be far more organized about my own time, and opted out of TV for several years in college, and did not miss it. I exercised more, read more books, and went out with friends more often.  Eventually, I'd like to get back to that place. Until that is possible, I usually keep myself busy doing something else while my people watch TV.

Anyway - when your spouse or kids watch that television screen, think about praying for their Time Management skills in life.  Television is one of the biggest ways I find we waste our time, so it also makes sense to be the time I pray about us spending our time more wisely.






TV - Time Management Skills

Dear Lord,

Please help me and my family to spend our time wisely for you. Help us to see when we are wasting time and when we are investing time in efforts that will produce fruit.  Help us to seek you first in our time, before all other things in our day.  Show me how to teach my children to spend their days wisely, but not wasting my own time.  Help us to accomplish the work that needs to be done today and each day, without becoming consumed by the work itself.  Help us to also enjoy our time together doing fun activities as a family.  God, give my husband wisdom on how to use his time to glorify you the most in his life's work as a husband, father, pastor, and everything else. Give us an eternal perspective on what matters the most as we spend our days here on earth.  Help us to remember that we are created for 'such a time as this,' and we can be useful in the exact situation you have already placed us. In Jesus' Name I pray,

Amen. 

This is post twenty-seven in a series on Praying for Your Family: a 31 Day Challenge.  You can go to the main 'landing page' and scroll to the bottom, for a list of all the days by clicking here:
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