Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we have progressed past certain temptations or issues only to realize we are not as strong to resist as we thought we were. I have struggled with media for a long time-years. At several points in our marriage, we have gotten rid of our TV and at the present have not had "commercial" TV (i.e. regular television with antenna or cable) in our home for over 7 years. We do watch videos but are very careful about what we watch as well as what our kids watch. Here's the clincher- YOUTUBE. What I wouldn't watch on TV, I fell prey to watching on YOUTUBE. I spent three hours watching The Biggest Loser- Australia version. This indicates a problem. I am not saying it is a bad show but I recognized I was letting myself watch something that if it had been a video-I would not allow it in my house because of the language. The good part is that I recognized myself slipping back into bad habits within 2 days whereas in the past it would have went on a whole lot longer than that. I also have a tendency to check news-a lot. Is it really necessary that I know Britney Spears paints her toenails purple or where her latest tattoo is? Do I need to know about some convicted dude winning the lottery only to violate his parole? The answer is no but once I started checking legitimate news, this is where I ended up. So here was my solution. I used my computer for accountability. I used my parental filter and blocked myself from those sites that caused me trouble. I still can get past it if I needed to but that screen that pops up reminds me to think carefully about where I am going on the net. Here's the kicker a couple of days after my husband did the same thing without me even suggesting it for him. He felt he was spending too much time on the computer taking him away from things he enjoys more. I think that is awesome. I am looking at this whole thing as such a positive thing. We both are growing closer to the Lord and closer together. It is so cool how God can deal with you both about something separately and how we can encourage each other.
