My Week Without TV.....

This last week, TV and I had a break.
We (mainly me) decided that I needed sometime apart from him (yes I just made my TV male). TV did nothing wrong, but did everything right, but I still needed a break.

Why you ask?
Well, there are a few reasons that I wanted to take a break, but my reason was that I felt as though I was spending too much time on Hulu Plus, catching up on my American TV shows and I wanted to change that.

See sometimes living in another country can be exhausting. From learning and speaking another language, to figuring out how to pay bills or even what bus to take to get home can be hard. The little things that never bothered you in your home country (like driving), now seem like such a huge hurdle and so overwhelming. BUT yet by God's grace you were able to pay the bills, drive to the store and the lady at the register understood what you were asking. So it is easy at the end of the day to come home, and want to do something that is familiar to you. That is a little taste of home.

For me that is watching my American TV shows. For 42 min, I get to watch something that people back at home are watching or at least familiar with. I can Skype with friends and family and know that I can talk to them about what happened on Scandal, or that funny joke on that episode of The Mindy Project. (Yes I watch these shows, please don't judge my taste of TV) That when I already feel out of place and out of touch with the day to day things in America, I at least have my American TV shows to keep me current.

But what happens when your TV shows start becoming more important then God? Or more important then the relationship you need to continue to build? Now let me say that I no way think that the shows I watch are more important then God or the relationships that I am building here. BUT for some people this has become their reality. Escaping the hardships of life with a little or A LOT of TV.

So how did it go?
It was actually a lot easier then what I thought it would be. I didn't go through withdraws or cravings. Instead, I spent time hangout with friends, Skyping with people and reading. I notice that when I went to bed, I was more relaxed. My time with God was longer and not so rushed at night. Yes my nights seems LONGER, but that meant that I had more time to do other things.  At the end of the week, I was glad that I did it. It helped me to see that I need a balance in my life. That it is okay to watch TV shows and relax, but I also need to make sure that I make more time with God and friends.