being jake wood

It’s been about 2 years since me and Kim cancelled DirecTV and went without TV… well, sort of. About 2 years ago me and Kim purchased a Mac Mini and decided to go without “Live” TV/DVR. Our only source for entertainment has been online sources or direct movie/TV downloads. Since we have made the adjustment, we have loved it. Here are a couple of the bonuses we have seen:

1. No More Lazy TV.
   We still watch TV, but we only watch the shows we really want to watch. When we had regular TV, sometimes we would just sit down and watch whatever was on. Which inevitably led to more shows and more wasted time. When a show is really good, we hear about it from a lot of people and then decide to watch it.
2. Saved a Lot of $.
   With no monthly bills for cable or Satellite, we’re able to use that money in other places. Sure it was about $500 for the computer to hook up at first, but that paid for itself within the first year.
3. No More Kid’s Toy Commercials.
   One upside around Christmas time was that our kids never watched the 1,000′s of commercials for toy gadgets that they just “had” to have. They never bugged us about what toys they wanted for Christmas. It really is amazing how influential commercials can be on children (and us).
4. We Read More Books and Listen to More Music.
5. It Keeps My Idol In Check. I don’t think watching TV is wrong. But for us, it became an idol. Substituting family time or worse, time with God. Since the switch it has really put our hearts in check. I don’t just come home and unplug in front of the TV, but engage with my family.

Again, I’m not advocating that everyone get rid of their TV’s. But for us, it was one of the best things we ever did as a family.

JW

THE WEEK THAT WAS:
The first part of the week started out busy and then we got hammered with snow on Friday night and all of a sudden we were snowbound in the house. It turned out really good. Some time to relax, watch a movie, read and of course eat bad food with an excuse. Because of being snowed in I was able to get a lot of reading done and future planning.
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ON MY TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK:
March Madness. March Madness. March Madness…. oh and our student leadership retreat is this weekend. Lot’s to do!:)

BOOK I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF:

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus
By Ann Spangler & Loius Tverberg

The Great Emergence
By Phyllis Tickle

MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO CATCH MY ATTENTION THIS LAST WEEK:

Vampire Weekend
Contra

Brian Johnson
Love Came Down

MY UPDATED SUPERBOWL PREDICTION:
COLTS. Ok… so I was wrong! Good job Saints!

JW

THE WEEK THAT WAS:
This last week was a busy one. I was in desperate need of some recharging. So Friday and Saturday my family did absolutely NOTHING. We watched movies, Biggest Loser, read books and just had fun with each other. I didn’t even bother showering Saturday… it was glorious and much needed.

FAVORITE VIDEO OF THE WEEK:
One of the funniest shows on TV now is Modern Family… we love it. Here’s a clip.

ON MY TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK:
There is a lot of preparing for March Madness next month and looking for to preaching Wednesday night from our new series “Identity Theft”.

BOOK I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF:

7 Practices of Effective Ministry
by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones

The War of Art
by Steven Pressfield

MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO CATCH MY ATTENTION THIS LAST WEEK:

Muddy Waters
Blue Skies: The Best of Muddy Waters

MY UPDATED SUPERBOWL PREDICTION:
Ok… so I’m betting everything on the Colts for the Superbowl win in 2 weeks. Why? Because the AFC is that much better than the NFC

JW

THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Some weeks are busy and other weeks are CRAZY busy. This was one of them. Tons of meetings, phone calls and lot’s of planning. I couldn’t tell you how badly I wanted to break my 21 day fast and just eat and relax. Rest assured, I’m still going strong and glad I still am. Nothing will push you farther and stretch you more than a food fast. I somehow skipped any day off this week but plan on trying to catch up a little this week. And I turned 32 last Thursday… that just looks weird.

FAVORITE VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

ON MY TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK:
Graphic design, graphic design, graphic design. I’m sooo behind on design work that I plan on blocking out 20 or so hours this week to just concentrate on that. I also, have a mountain of items that are awaiting sale on Ebay at my house… to name a few.

BOOK I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF:

The Total Money Makeover
by Dave Ramsey

My goal is to read 1 book a month on the issue of money this year and Dave Ramsey gets the honor of kicking it off right!

MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO CATCH MY ATTENTION THIS LAST WEEK:

The David Crowder BandChurch Music
Creative, fun and catchy… you gotta get this!

Matt MaherEmpty and Beautiful
Inspiring, honest and real worship

Norah JonesThe Fall
One of my favorite modern jazz artist of today!

The United Pursuit Band
EP
Great worship for personal prayer time!

MY UPDATED SUPERBOWL PREDICTION:
Still the Cowboys and newly added Colts with the Colts winning it all. GO JETS!
Ok… so I’m betting everything on the Colts for the Superbowl win in 2 weeks. Why? Because the AFC is that much better than the NFC

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT THIS WEEK:
Watching the movie “Avatar”… I’m sorry I meant to say “Pocahontas”

JW

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

• Great week. We saw 3 teenagers make the decision to follow Christ this past Wednesday… that never gets old!
• Kim seems to be making more progress with her healing from back surgery.
• The first week of this 21 day fast is pretty brutal, but God always surprises me in the midst of it. Got the chance to preach this Sunday at both services, which is always a blast!
• And caped the week of with a movie. I heard some pretty good reviews about “The Book of Eli”, so I passed on “Avatar” to see Denzel Washington. Movie ended up being pretty good. About a 7 out of 10. Great story and even better quotes. To be honest, I’m still chewing on the content (it’s one of those).

MEDICINE OF THE WEEK:
Z-Pac. Yeah, it’s time to call in the big boys on this sinus infection!

ON MY TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK:
Graphic design projects for the church are number one.

BOOK I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF:

Eat This Book
by Eugene Peterson

MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO CATCH MY ATTENTION THIS LAST WEEK:

Generation Unleashed

Ben Lee

Klaus

MY UPDATED SUPERBOWL PREDICTION:
Still the Cowboys and newly added Colts with the Colts winning it all. GO JETS!

WEIRDEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK:
Taking a sleeping pill to fall asleep on an empty stomach and getting super loopy… half the stuff Kim said I did, I vaguely remember

JW