One of my good friends have been instructed by me(actually I asked her) to log in to my Facebook account and change my password and DO NOT give me the new password until September 1st. Yes I did it! I actually did this on Monday I think. I can't even remember now. I want to show myself that I can do without social networking for a month. My prayer in doing this is I am hoping that I will go back September 1st and be able to use it as a tool and not a hinderance to my being a wife, mom, and a homeschool teacher, friend, daughter, sister, grandaughter, etc. There have been several groups that have been a blessing to me on Facebook. The Good Morning Girls Bible study groups have been a Godsend. Being a homeschooling mom, there are really no Bible studies available for moms who have children with them during the public school year. I prayed for about a year and come upon Good Morning Girls by being connected with some ladies from being on the CafeMom website. We have since mostly dissolved from that website and moved over to Facebook. We found ourselves spending too much time on Facebook. I have been convicted about this quite a few times. I have attempted to fast from FB but never gave anyone my log in information and told them to change my password. That was a huge step for me but it has been a blessing. Nothing but a blessing. I've been able to be more productive than usual. I was able to control getting on FB and spend endless hours on there however I was on it through the day every time I got a notification on my phone I had a tendency to put whoever is in front of me (and most of the time it's my kid)s on hold. I am working on not even answering text messaging or the phone if we are schooling. Yes I at least answered text messaging but I'm trying to prioritize and this is something God has laid on my heart. It's all about mindset and it's about what our hearts are really focused on. I want my heart to be focused on the things of God and the people who need Him. I want to be so caught up in those things that I don't have to say anything to prove that I am HIS.
I am so excited about what God is doing in my life. I am also excited about what God is doing in my children and in my husband. I've been a Christian since I was 6 so it's not like I am a newly saved on fire NEW Christian. I have a renewed desire for reading the Bible and not just reading it but studying it and getting to know God through His word better. I care more about winning souls into the kingdom than the latest fashion style or the latest gossip about the couple who is divorcing because the spouse cheated on the other and got pregnant or got them pregnant. I have no desire for glamorous Disney World vacations and neither do my children. We don't glamorize Christmas either. It's a holiday that we take to celebrate Jesus' birthday. It is a sacred time for our family. It saddens me and I know that it saddens God's heart for the way Christians have treated His son's birthday that He sent to die for us. It's completely commercialized and all the focus goes on getting things. Christians play a big part in supporting the commercialization too. Yes Jesus may be mentioned but everything else is so magnified. He is the King of all Kings. He should be honored and reverenced. I have no desire for a vacation every 3 to 6 months a year either. I don't know about you but I don't remember where I went on vacation or what I got for Christmas when I was little. What I do remember is helping my mom on Christmas day bake and cook and we went out to my Grandparents and spend the rest of the day out there. We played softball games and had a good time! That is what I remember. I remember the time spent with family. I have no desire whatsoever to be "in the loop" to know all the juicy gossip about everyone. When I hear of a genuine need I pray but I don't ever discuss that with anyone else. If the person who requested prayer wanted everyone to know, then they would post it all over facebook. LOL! Now that is how to get things started. For most situations this is not the case. People usually stay quiet about their personal needs. The way it gets spread is that people gossip. There are so many wholesome and good things that I could think to talk about and when I walk into most conversations it's about the above mentioned or something similar. I usually don't stay in that conversation because I just don't want to be a part.
My desire is to be less of me and more of Jesus. I want to be an encourager with my words. I want to be a breath of fresh air for those hurting or those that are having issues. I've been through quite a bit. I am hesitant to share but I believe that this is the month for me and that God has led me to a No Facebook August because He says it is time. There are some parts of my life that I am still not ready to share. There are others that I have just recently shared with my immediate family. I believe that it will be a blessing to someone so stay tuned. :)
It is a blessing to see God do a work in your life! We tried FB a few years ago. It was too time consuming & what people typed bothered me. Even though I would not comment & it had nothing to do with me, I was still thinking about how ridiculous it was & awe struck. I was also put into the situation that I wanted to defriend some but didn't want to cause an issue. Anyways, keep sharing! It stirs my heart! Christmas is out certainly out of control! Time with Jesus & striving to be like Him should be our main focus everyday! Your words are inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI have found the same thing with Facebook, and I have discovered that this is definitely one of those ways the devil uses to get me away from Jesus. I try to teach the kids that we are to be in the world but not of the world. Just as you and South GA mom said, these things pull us from what is most important: our family and God. Enjoy schooling those kiddos! They will remember that!
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