My Own Addictions

 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.  Exodus 33:11a.

 

I met two friends for breakfast the other day. When we were done eating and chatting (and chatting some more) one of my friends leaned forward a little and said, “Well, I want to thank you two for the pleasure of having a whole meal without your checking your phones once.” We all laughed at how old we are getting and said our good-byes.

It was refreshing for all of us. Three women totally engaged in a live conversation! I am not always undistracted by social media but my phone is not a temptation for me.

Sometimes I think I am the only person in the world (or at least my world) that does not have a cell phone with a data plan on it.  I am not cheap; I am weak. I am admittedly a social media -aholic. If you are one, you know what I am talking about.

When I walk into my office in the morning I have to forbid myself from turning on my computer until after I sit and pray and do a little Bible study. When I do turn it on, it is on for the day. Part of my routine every day is to check Facebook, Twitter, and my two email accounts. It takes almost an hour some days, other days I am sick of it in less than half an hour.

As the day moves on I will check it if I have left and then come back into the office or if I have been writing or working for a stretch of time and want a break. These “stops” are usually short because not much has been added.

I love to hate all of this – but I keep right on checking it all! I do not miss it on days I have other things to do and find that I spend a lot less time if I just check it once or twice a day. Many days my productivity stinks but I have checked all of these social media outlets several times throughout the day. What is wrong with me?!

I framed “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things,” (Psalm 119:37) and placed it on my desk where I would see it every day. I looked up for it to check the wording as I am writing this and noticed it isn’t there. Wonder where it went and how long it’s been gone.

I guess that didn’t work!

When I am thinking clearly I know that Twitter and Facebook are arguably good ministry tools and I do use them as such. It is my rationalization for continuing to check them. But, the truth is that I know they are kind of “legal” gossip. I am not passing it on, I am just reading what everyone has to say. Some of it so whiney, some of it so trivial, and some of it I just never needed to know. Though – another rationalization coming – I have read some great, Godly, blogs I never would have seen had they not been posted on Facebook or Twitter!

All of the people who have taught me about speaking and blogging ministries have said that I must have a presence on at least Facebook and Twitter (though I am hearing a lot more about Pinterest lately, too) so I will not be leaving anytime soon.

My plea to everyone is please do not make me feel old, stupid, or uninformed because I do not have internet on my cell phone. I cannot even begin to imagine how obnoxious I would be if I could check it every waking moment (though, seriously, I do have a clue because of the example some of my friends and acquaintances have set for me).

I fear my old friends would no longer enjoy my company over a chatty breakfast and I would miss all the great stuff happening in their lives while I check the data of people I barely know.