Cutting the Cord...

Two years ago we got rid of something that was slowly driving a wedge in the middle of our family.  It was making our daughter think she wasn't pretty enough, it was making our son violent, and it was making my wife and I distant, non communicative people living in the same house.

Every day it would suck the energy out of us and show us new, shiny things we should spend our money on.  It was talking to us all day, making us listen.  We listened so much that we weren't talking to each other any more.  It was slowly ripping us apart and we were letting it.

To make things worse, this thing was in our house by our choice.  In fact, we were paying a lot of money for it each month to stay in our house.

So, it had to go.  We kicked it to the curb and haven't looked back.

Do you see what I see?

Ok.

I don't know if it's because I'm getting older... or because I'm slowly becoming my parents, but I've recently been noticing all the truly awful things in the mediasphere (TV, music, internet, movies, books, etc...) that are aimed directly at our kids' hearts, souls, and minds.

If Jesus said that the greatest commandment of all time is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:34-39)... I'm pretty sure not much of what is floating invisibly through the airwaves and directly into our homes, or is sitting on our kids' iPods is going to help us as parents instill this truth in our children very effectively.

I'm not just saying this as a children's pastor... I'm saying this as a father who is concerned about what my