Changes

This morning, I've been making some changes to my blog. Some of them I decided to do, some were done for me (or were a result of what I did). Changing templates really does not save all the elements of a page!

I've realized recently that as parents, sometimes we need to make changes in our lives. Sometimes what we decide to do at this time is completely different, sometimes even opposite, from what we had decided years before.

We are going to be getting cable TV next week. We haven't had cable since 1998. At that time, we decided it wasn't worth the money or the time for us to have it. But we're changing that, mostly because our family has changed. Our oldest (and his dad) loves watching hockey and he usually goes to Grandma's to watch it. But you know, I like having my family together at home and when two out of six members are gone regularly, we started to realize that maybe we needed to make changes. We also like watching some of the other house and home shows together.

Does this mean that I think every family should have cable TV? No more than I thought over the past 8 years that no family should have cable (or satellite).

I still think there are dangers associated with having television in our home. We're going to have to be very careful with our younger children because they can watch TV for hours on end. We'll have to be careful with the older people too, who can also waste a lot of time watching TV. I'm a little apprehensive about it but I think at this time, it's appropriate for our family.

Sometimes I think as parents and as Christians, we can get locked into the "we've always done it this way" mode and not take into consideration that circumstances and people have changed. Maybe someone in our church wasn't ready to be in a leadership position several years ago but now, that same person has grown spiritually and it is time for them to move into that position. Or the opposite - someone has always done that job and maybe needs to take a break.

As parents, it's easy to forget that our children are growing older and are more mature. When the Harry Potter books first came out, my aunt asked if we would like them. I looked at them and decided at that time (I think our oldest was about 9) that they weren't appropriate for our family. However, a few years later, after another friend talked about them, I started reading them and let our older two begin. It was appropriate at that time. Now our next one, who is almost 8, is starting to eye those books. She won't be starting them for several years, not because she can't understand them (she's a very good reader) but because they aren't appropriate, in my view, for her. Other parents may have other opinions for their children.

Even when we do allow something that wasn't formerly allowed, we still need to be careful and wary of what might happen. Perhaps it's not something that will be beneficial, either to our family or to others around us. We may not have cable for very many months before we cancel it. But at this time, it's appropriate for our family.

Changes - sometimes anticipated, sometimes scary but always interesting!