The Family Table

This summer the Tedder household is unplugging...quite literally. Suzanne and I have decided to unplug the television sets in our home and go without the number one competition of our family's togetherness...the TV. We have experimented a couple of times before with this idea (with varied amounts of success). I have described it here. And while we're on the subject, here's a very useful article about how the TV competes with a family's time together.

Of course, the TV isn't the only culprit stealing a family's time together. A family in America today has 100 things each day that compete for that precious time. That's why I believe it's vital to carve out and protect "Sabbath times" for the family throughout the week. And you can hardly do better than meal times...be they breakfast, lunch, or dinner. (By the way, that's meal times together as a family...around one table...without the TV on...without incoming phone calls interrupting every two minutes.)

There's something powerful that happens when a family sits down to enjoy the fellowship of a meal together. Whether it is catching up on the day, having family worship, or just laughing together, the family table is a special place.

On that note, I have found three very helpful articles that speak to this issue of "the family table." I hope they will serve to encourage you and your family to take time together in this wonderful way.

Blessings,
Pastor Dale

Start a Revolution--Eat Dinner With Your Family by Al Mohler

The Family That Eats Together . . . Talks to Each Other by Al Mohler

Whatever Happened to Dinner Time in America? by Doug Phillips

Update - June 4, 2008

Here are a few interesting articles on fasting from the TV...

10 Ideas: What to do when you're not watching TV by Rob Flood

No TV...For a Year? How a sacrificial "anniversary gift" revolutionized one home by Scott Williams

Television Babysitter by Carrie Ward

The Great Escape by Bob DeMoss