The parents were sitting on the couch being absolutely overjoyed by what must have been the greatest movie of all time. An older son was sitting on the floor beneath them staring into a cell phone - with ear buds in - totally oblivious to mom and dad - but “connected” nonetheless! Two younger children, a brother and a sister, were in the background seemingly enjoying a game on some kind of pad.

Very misleading! Being in the same room does not mean being connected!!!! Rather, this particular ad was actually conveying being distracted - distracted from true connection by the ever-present, ever-beckoning allure of entertainment devices and accessibility.

Now - if the entire family were watching the movie TOGETHER or playing a game TOGETHER - I would buy that as something of “connecting.”

Let us not buy in to the subtle excuse that hanging out together in the same room is somehow connecting!!

So how do we make sure we are connecting as a family in our entertainment dominated and technological driven society?

1. Make family worship a priority. Connecting around the Word, Christ, and the Gospel is the BEST connection.

2. Eat as many dinners together as possible!!!!!! Talk and share. No better place to connect than over a meal.

3. Schedule family times of fun. Doesn’t matter if it’s a movie or camping. Just do things together that involve truly being together.

4. Give each other space to enjoy things solo - but don’t let solo activities dominate!!

5. Enjoy doing what other members of your family want to do even if you really don’t enjoy that particular thing! How much togetherness do we sacrifice just because their thing is not our thing. Enjoy it just for the sake of being together.