Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Turning Off And Tuning In

Several months back we took part in a corporate fast in our church. As a family we shut off the Internet, television and texting. We took that time to add in a daily family devotion centered around fasting and praying.

I was surprised that not having the media didn't really have an effect at first. I realized though that I was filling the time I had spent before on facebook or watching television to do other projects. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with that. It's when I quieted the inner noise, the to-do's, and excuses I realized what I was doing.

Being a stay at home mom who rarely spends time with people who have been out of diapers more than a couple of years. I was using media to fix emotions. Loneliness, boredom, frustration and overload were all on the list of things I didn't want to experience. I avoided with television and escaped with Facebook. 

 It even took most of the forty days we were fasting to get started  really being open to God filling those gaps. It was a slow process of weaning myself from technology. Realizing I was relevant whether or not I posted on Facebook. That I wasn't alone in the silence that fell when the television was off.

Then it happened. While I was cleaning one day I heard my son playing in his room quoting word for word one of the bible stories I had been reading to them. Then came another, then a scripture verse we had been singing. I found I was doing it too.

We started eating together in the kitchen, talking to one another. My husband and I started playing games in the evenings. We were enjoying one another. The decibel level in the house dropped. My children's attention spans started growing and so did their patience. Mind you they are four and two and a half now so this alone is a miracle.

It is amazing how the Lord came and filled the places we emptied of distraction. Now months later we  do watch a movie here or there. I have Facebook and obviously blog, but we have become much more aware of how we control media so that it doesn't control us.

Since we have added some media in we have actually had to stop again and readjust. I think for us we will have to constantly re-evaluate and make sure it is in the right place. Such is life. We should not be afraid to look at things around us and be ever vigilant in keeping the main thing the main thing. This is a Ricky Bobby moment guys if God's not first He is last.

Do you escape through media?

God Bless,

Tara