Sunday, January 21, 2007

Unplugged

Those of you who know me well know that I am struggling with time management during this season of life. I've made no secret of that fact. The biggest time-sucker during the day? Unsurprisingly, it's the internet. Whether it's clicking through my blog feeds, checking out the latest post at Nashville is Talking, hopping from blogs I read regularly to those of strangers, skimming various informational articles or playing sudoku, I am constantly amazed at (and ashamed of) how quickly the hours disappear.

Shortly before Christmas, I read this post, and it challenged me:

Could I live without my computer for one week?

Maybe the better question is, 'Why would you want to, Sara?'. Well, let me tell you. It's addicting, and I don't like feeling that way. When I wake up in the morning, instead of an intense desire to meet with the Lord, I have an intense desire to check my email. When I have some spare time in the day, I would rather check blogs than read to my sweet daughter. When I should be going to sleep at night to refresh and heal my body, I am editing photos, posting blogs, or just mindlessly roaming the Internet.

...I realized that the Internet, blogging, and computer time in general have become an idol in my life. ...When I start to [waste] energy that could be spent glorifying Him and getting to know Him better, He is saddened. I am in no way saying that computers and the Internet are bad and that Christians shouldn't be using them. ...It's when we let it creep ever so slowly into our lives and take over that it becomes a problem.

After a dear friend issued a similar challenge to me personally last week, I knew it was time to follow through with this. I know I desperately need a week (at least) to unplug--to turn off that cable modem and avoid the "I'll just check my email quick" that turns into an hour in front of the screen.

All of that to say, the blog will be quiet for the next several days. See you next week...y'all come back now, y'hear?

2 comments:

Nate said...

If all goes well, you won't read this comment until your week of computer fasting is up...but know that I am so proud of you for trying this and that you are covered in prayer this week. I can't wait to hear how it went!

Slartibartfast said...

See you on the flip side.

This is a good thing. This summer, I am NOT taking my laptop on vacation (for once). I'm going to enjoy my wife and watch my kids play in the sand, and admire sunsets and eat good food.

Email can wait. Bless you!