Our television died the day before yesterday.
Or as our children would say....their only reason for living is gone.
We are deep mourning over here.
One minute the Disney channel was on...the next?
Eternal blackness.
There have been real tears shed.
NO TV?
What. In. The. World.
What is this world coming to?
Where is the love?
Does Love = Hours spent in front of a screen?
If it does...the love is gone.
I am a little sad myself.
All of my So You Think You Can Dance inspired hip hop routines
are going to have to be put on hold. (So sorry, Nappy Tabs....)
But it's okay.
This is real life over here, people.
The boys are learning hard lessons.
Grown Up People lessons.
And we all have to learn them sometime.
The immediate question was, "When can we buy a new TV?"
To which we said, "Since no one has been able to find the magic money tree....
we will not be getting a new TV any time soon."
More tears. (Some of them may or may not have been Scott's....)
1st Lesson: You can't buy a new TV when you don't have money for a new TV.
The next question was, "Can we not eat any more food so that we can buy a new TV?"
This coming from the child who has been known to eat an entire pound of cheese
in one sitting.
2nd Lesson: Food is more important than TV.
It may not feel like it but it is.
A 3 week fast for preteen and teenage boys is not really an option.
I haven't even seen a 3 hour fast happen in the last year for that matter.
One of the boys came in my room last night with a look on his face that was distressing.
Such unhappiness. I really thought something horrible had happened.
I asked him, "What's wrong, buddy? Are you okay?"
There was a hint of tears glittering in his eyes.
I thought maybe one of his brothers had hauled off and punched him in the nether regions...
because that happens around here quite a bit.
Instead he whispered, "No TV."
Being the loving and caring mom that I am, I said something like,
"No. I don't think so. We are done with this. We are all disappointed but
you don't get to pout endlessly about not having a TV.
We are not crying over not having a TV."
I was even a little angry.
I almost went off a mini rant.
Because we have every single thing that we need, don't we?
We have food, clothes, shelter, and each other.
We have even had more than the usual amount of ice cream this summer!
And doesn't he know that his Dad and I do EVERY SINGLE THING we can
to provide him and his brothers with everything they need?
Doesn't he?
I could feel the righteous anger building in my chest.
I was going to lay into this kid and let him know what was up.
And right before I got ready to open my mouth to remind him about all the children
ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO DON'T HAVE ANYTHING...
ANYTHING....LET ALONE A TV!
I felt the Holy Spirit give me a little poke and say,
"Man, he sure sounds a whole lot like you when you were talking to me this morning
about what you need...
almost like you don't think I have given you enough...
almost like you are not thankful for the gagillion blessings I have lavished on you.
And by the way,
don't you know that your Heavenly Father does EVERY SINGLE THING
He can to provide you with everything you need?
Don't you?"
Sometimes the Holy Spirit is sarcastic.
I think He does it for effect.
And so I kept my mouth shut.
About all the children in the world.
Because apparently, I have a giant redwood sticking out of my eye while
I am so concerned about the TV sized speck in my son's eye.
3rd Lesson: Keep your mouth shut when the Holy Spirit tells you the truth about
Yourself.
So today...I am focusing on the great mercy that my Heavenly Father affords me.
That He didn't flick me off of the planet yesterday for being ungrateful and on top of that,
judging someone else for being ungrateful.
And I am thankful that He is so gracious as to use my own children to point out
my shortcomings so that we can both learn this important Grown Up People lesson
at the same time...
even though I am 30 years older than they are and should have already learned this lesson.
And I am saying these things out loud today ...
with a fresh, clean, un-complaining, non-whining voice...
God is so good.
He is so loving.
He is so faithful.
He is so kind.
He never fails us.
Not ever.
And that is way better than TV.
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