Social Media Break Revelations

At the beginning of January our church invited us all to participate in 21 days of fasting and prayer.  I decided to join in and fasted social media.  Those 21 days passed and I found myself actually apprehensive about downloading Instagram and Facebook on my phone again.  The time off of those apps gave me a new perspective on many things in my life.  And I wanted more of what I had found. So, I decided to keep going!

I do not think social media is evil or bad.  I love it. It provides connection with people far away.  It allows me a social life from my house where I am most of the time raising our babies.  BUT, in my time off of it, I realized some things that weren't so beneficial. 

It is so time consuming! I realized that it was taking away from things I wanted to be a priority in my daily life.  My prayer life, my time in my Bible, my undivided attention to my kids.  It's just too easy to pick up my phone and scroll through people's lives, all the while I'm missing out on my own! 

Instead of scrolling through social media while I nurse Jaxson or while my kids play and I'm not busy for a moment, I spend that time praying for them. Praying for their future spouses. Praying for the gifts and talents God put in them.  Praying for them to hear God's voice and follow it. Praying for them to become people of integrity, honesty, kindness, and strength.  

Also, I don't want the last thing I see before bed and the first thing I see when I wake up to be my phone.  I want to read more. I want to be in my Bible more. So, instead of wasting time on my phone before bed, I read my book.  Instead of grabbing my phone while I drink my coffee in the morning, I grab my bible and journal. I've found great satisfaction in being more disciplined! 

And, instead of feeling this weird pressure to take videos and pictures of everything my kids do so I can post it for the world to see, I feel so free to just enjoy the moments playing with my kids or watching them do fun things instead of trying to hard to capture it to show other people. Like not everyone needs to be a part of our moments!  Honestly, my kids would rather see my eyes than my camera.  They'd rather me live in the moments with them instead of worry about posting the moments. I've found great freedom in having good times and not bragging about them on social media. 

After 5 weeks off now, I really think we use social media at a cost.  It costs us our time, our priorities, and real life interactions.  It can even cost us our own intimacy and privacy.  I feel like I have used social media too much to express myself in the past.  It shouldn't be our diary with the world as our audience.  Our prayer life should be our diary.  Vulnerable moments with safe people we trust should be our diaries.  Those interactions give us what we're really longing for--true connection and authentic relationships.  Social Media can't truly meet those relational needs. 

Also, I've found that social media can be somewhat of a highlight reel.  It is not the full picture of anyone's life.  It is mostly the good times, the pretty things, the clean, neat, and tidy things.  Which is fine.  Most of us aren't trying to hang our dirty laundry for all to see.  BUT what I found is that looking at accounts of all the pretty, neat, tidy, awesome things led me to look down at the not so tidy, neat, pretty, not so awesome things in my life.  It can lead to comparison and shame.  It's like a trick.  Like everyone has it all together except us.  I know that is NOT true.  But it is so easy to create a facade of reality on social media and almost trick yourself into thinking things are one way when they're really not.  I don't want my mind to be flooded with this.  And I don't want to spend time trying to create a false reality.  Or looking at other people's false realities. 

I want to be content. Grateful.  Joyful.  Blessed, not burdened.  And the thing that keeps me off social media for now is this--it is not very life giving.  I need my time and days to be filled with LIFE GIVING things.  Keeping up with a few close friends through one on one conversations.  Being in my bible.  Praying for my marriage and kids.  Reading good books. These things are life giving.  They spur me on in who I want to be.  Social Media does not. 

And if that's not enough to keep me off social media for now--my kids are.  We have 4 little souls in our home that we are raising.  An almost 7, 5, 3, and 1 year old.  They need a lot from us. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  Most days I struggle to feel like what I have to give is enough.  Hence the life giving things I need to spend my time on.  I cannot have anything in my daily life that takes away my focus and mind from these four little ones that need me.  They need me to be focused on Jesus and the things of God. They need me to be so filled up with joy and love that it overflows onto them every day.  They need me to be so encouraged that I'm the most kind and patient with them.  They just need ME. And I'm afraid I cannot be focused and present when my mind and time is on social media.  

I'm so grateful for those 21 days of fasting and prayer.  They imparted to me an urgency and passion for the here and now.  Love and a call of God will lead us to do radical things.  Like lay down social media for the sake of a greater cause and purpose.  When the fear of missing out rises up in me, I look around at my husband and kids and I remind myself "I'm not missing out on them.  I'm not missing out on THIS."  Anything else I'm afraid I'm missing out on....nope, not important. It's a distraction created to disarm me from the life God's called me to here and now.