We Need A Radical Change

I remember the days when I was a young girl and would spend countless hours reading and writing in the privacy of my room. I remember when I could find rest and contentment in sitting still with no means of entertainment. I would think. I would pray. I would dream and dare to imagine what my days to come would hold. I savored my quiet moments scribbling in my journals. I cherished the hours by my bedroom window watching the world pass by me while having conversations with the Lord. 

It was romantic, peaceful, and above all it enriched my heart and filled my soul with worth. I wasn’t just wasting away or shutting my thoughts away from myself; I was discovering God and the woman I was becoming. I was discovering people and invested in unveiling the mysteries of the world around me. I didn’t need entertainment to console and satisfy me. I was already richly enthralled with the things that spoke to my heart, both in quiet and in the chaos, I found a purpose that drove and filled me.

When I was young, my parents had strict rules about the TV, internet, and computer game usage. It was possibly one of the best things they could have done for me growing up, with the great exception of teaching me about the Lord. I grew up learning how to entertain myself apart from the things of today. Instead of wasting my time and thoughts in a world of games and the latest sitcoms, I was growing closer to the Lord and discovering the world around me as it is. 

I wasn’t given the opportunity to have a Facebook or Myspace page. I didn’t even have a cell phone until I started working. Instead of pinning a thousand pins on Pinterest that I would never do anything with again, I was repurposing the things around me. Today I find myself in such a different mindset. 

I don’t like it. I don't like who I’ve become, or the way I spend my time. I don’t like how empty I feel. Instead of pursuing my walk with the Lord, or with my husband, I find myself in front of a TV wasting hours growing further and further away from the ones I love.

One of the things that truly instigated the drive to simplify and minimize was Alex’s and my own obsession with entertainment. We started recognizing patterns of laziness, a lack of drive to do anything meaningful with our time and a desire we couldn’t seem to break. 

The reality is: entertainment and the media have become an idol in our lives. 

I start my day with one thought: I am not going to touch my phone, turn on my TV, or start up my laptop. I am going to spend my day thinking and doing things that matter.

10 AM - I’m on my phone. 

I am realizing how big of a problem this is in my life. It is robbing me of the joy and peace I could have investing my time and energy into my God, husband, daughter, friends and family. My prayers grow fewer day by day. My thoughts are mush and my energy and drive to live is slowly disintegrating. 

I am not saying that entertainment is bad in all circumstances. I'm saying that when it starts to have such a pull on our heart and mind that we cannot bear to live without it, then my dear friends, it is a problem. 

After so many months of trying to make changes in our life of our family over specific issues- the fact that we still struggling so desperately causes me to think that maybe we need to do something radical. Maybe the answer is to do something that will force us to break the bonds that media and entertainment has over us. 

I don’t have the answers yet. I only know that something needs to change and that we have to be the ones to do it. 

Denial and half-attempted ideas will not make changes our hearts need. It will not force us to address the heart of the issue. 

If we are to make God the King of our hearts and thoughts then we have to be willing to put aside the things that are robbing Him of His throne. In my heart, entertainment is stealing the throne of my King. 

I’m not okay with it anymore.

If you guys have any radical ideas that could help us break this bond on our lives we welcome and encourage them. 

With an Earnest Love,

Leah