Marcus Redding on HDTV

When the nurse came in with discharge instructions, she spoke as one who had authority, “Stay out of the sun. Stay out of the heat. Stay in air conditioned rooms for 48 hours. No more Mr. Tough Guy. Something worse could happen if you push yourself. Do you understand?” Marcus was surprised at how adamant she was. “Yes, ma’am. I understand.” Lauren stood next to his hospital bed, holding Micah in one arm and holding Marcus’s hand in the other. She reassured the nurse, “I will restrain him if I have to.” She gave his hand a squeeze.

When Lauren got him to the ER they washed arms and torso with cool wet rags and put two fans on him to cool him down. They started an IV and replaced the icepacks under his armpits. His temperature came down and his mind cleared up. He was going to be all right. But they kept him overnight to make sure.

They got home around four o’clock the next day. There was a note on the door from Lisa, the office manager. It said, “I saw you leave and came by to see if everything was okay. I turned off the stove.” A few minutes later Mr. Johnson came by to check on Marcus. “I’ve got my own discharge orders,” the old man said. “You are staying out of the heat until Monday week. It will take you that long to get your strength back. Heat stroke is bad that way. Don’t push yourself, you hear?” Marcus said, “Yes, sir. But I hate being laid up for a week. I like to be busy.” Mr. Johnson was one step ahead of him, “I’m giving you a project you can work on inside. I want you and Lauren to work together to redesign the guest cabins. The ones we got now are too old. I’m tearing them down. I want y’all to draw up the plans for three new cabins, interior design, materials, cost, everything. Show me what you come up with next Monday morning and that will be your ticket to come back to work.”

Marcus knew a little about building houses. Lauren knew a lot about computers. So they worked together on the project every morning from nine to noon. In the afternoon Marcus watched Micah so Lauren could catch up on some rest. Monday afternoon he sat down on the couch to watch TV when he noticed the remote was sitting on top of his Bible. He paused. He looked down at Micah. Then he looked at the TV.

He remembered how Lauren told him about the day her mom came in from work and found little Lauren and Eddie watching The Simpsons. To their amazement Ruth opened the front door, unplugged the television, lugged the thing out to the sidewalk, and dropped it with a crash on the pavement. She marched back inside and told her wide-eyed children she was “tired of having the devil in their living room.” Lauren and Eddie whined and complained for three days straight. Then they learned to read books, play games, and play outside. They never missed the television again.

Marcus made a decision. The television was a on a cart with wheels so he just rolled it down the hall and pushed it into a closet and shut the door. He called the cable company and discontinued service. He found a pen and got out a yellow legal pad. He sat down at the table and composed the “Redding Family Television Policy.”

Lauren woke up from her nap and came into the living room. She sat down on the couch to feed Micah and looked at the empty space across from her, “Umm, Marcus, where is the television?” Marcus was ready, “I got tired of having the devil in my living room.” Lauren wondered if the heat stroke had affected his brain. He handed her the legal pad with the television policy. She read it and looked up at him. “What’s gotten into you, Mr. ESPN?”

Marcus said, “Your mom was right. But I’m not throwing the TV out. We can watch up to six hours a week. And we’ll make room for special events. But there are better things we can be doing with our time.” Then he got out his Bible and said, “I was reading something in John I wanted to talk to you about.”

He opened to John 8:31 and they talked about God’s word for the next half hour.

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.