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Groeschel Unplugs His Family Four Days a Week

July 2, 2011

Craig Groeschel, pastor of multisite LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma and developer of the wildly popular YouVersion Bible app, said in a CNN BeliefBlog this week that his family has made the difficult decision to limit their technology consumption to just three days per week. “That meant that for four days, there would be no television, no iPods, no Facebooking, and no feeding tiny digital pets—even if it meant, sadly, that they would starve,” wrote Groeschel. At first his children balked, but Groeschel has found that it was as if they “traveled back to a simpler time, when people sat on the front porch together and talked.” He said the family “rediscovered board games and picnics, reading books, and telling stories. Groeschel concluded, “This whole shift felt really odd at first, like we were giving something up. But what we got in return is worth far more. It’s intimate. It’s genuine connection. Honestly, we couldn’t go back now if we wanted to. The kids would never settle for things like they were before.” Groeschel is the author of the newly published book, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working.