If you remember from last years lent season I gave up facebook, twitter, and pinterest. You can read more about that decision here. Also if you look through some old posts from February and March of last year you can find out how it went for me.
This year I've decided to give up facebook and twitter again. I spend a lot of my time on these two sites and so I think its healthy to give them up and use that extra time to focus on my relationship with God. This will also allow me to get more school work done and pay attention in class more so I think it will be a win-win.
I will try and update my blog more about what is going on in my life during this time, but I'm not sure how good I will be at it so don't get too excited, Traci.
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Saturday, April 21, 2012
40 Days Without Social Media
I realized that I haven't posted about lent went without social media since I was 2 weeks in, so I thought I would update you all on that. It was quite difficult at first. I was so used to typing in facebook.com everytime that I logged onto the internet. As the weeks went by though it got much easier. It was also much easier than I expected to not go on twitter or pintrest.
I found for the most part that it was easy for me to keep in contact with people and I really wasn't missing too much vital information by not being on facebook. Really everything that I found "important" and thought that I would miss by not being on facebook people told me about. So those "really important" things I didn't miss much of.
Overall, I think it opened my eyes to how much time I spend on these sites and showed me that I can really live without them. I didn't do as great of a job as I wanted to of spending that time with God. I seemed to spend it on other websites either reading news articles or blogs. I do think that I did spend a bit more time on my homework and talking to people in person, which was great.
Now without being on social meeting for those 40+ days I'm finding it easier to only check my facebook a couple times a day. Really nothing super important happens when I haven't checked it in a few hours so that is a great realization. Recently I've also tried to stop reading quite so many blogs. I was finding myself investing time into other peoples lives that I didn't really know so I've tried to mainly read blogs of people that I actually know. That seems to make me a little more present in my relationships, which I think is great!
I found for the most part that it was easy for me to keep in contact with people and I really wasn't missing too much vital information by not being on facebook. Really everything that I found "important" and thought that I would miss by not being on facebook people told me about. So those "really important" things I didn't miss much of.
Overall, I think it opened my eyes to how much time I spend on these sites and showed me that I can really live without them. I didn't do as great of a job as I wanted to of spending that time with God. I seemed to spend it on other websites either reading news articles or blogs. I do think that I did spend a bit more time on my homework and talking to people in person, which was great.
Now without being on social meeting for those 40+ days I'm finding it easier to only check my facebook a couple times a day. Really nothing super important happens when I haven't checked it in a few hours so that is a great realization. Recently I've also tried to stop reading quite so many blogs. I was finding myself investing time into other peoples lives that I didn't really know so I've tried to mainly read blogs of people that I actually know. That seems to make me a little more present in my relationships, which I think is great!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
2 Weeks Without Social Media
So it's been 2 weeks now since I gave up facebook, twitter, and pinterest for lent. So far it's been going pretty good. At first it was very hard not to log into facebook. My usual routine is to go on the internet and then open up gmail and facebook. I spent lots of my time those first couple days typing in facebook then getting to the site and discovering I wasn't signed in and realizing that I gave it up. I've since mostly stopped doing that. Now as I'm typing facebook into the search bar I realize that I gave it up.
I've also realized that not that much happens on facebook that I'm really needing to check up on. Occasionally I find myself thinking that I could post something on someone's wall or something similar, but then I realize I got just text that person to tell them. Or I could call them or just tell them in person when I see them. Also my friend Traci wrote me a letter and so we've started a little snail mail correspondence. I love getting mail so I have enjoyed that so far and actually I'm finding out more about her life through that than I probably would have on facebook.
As far as the original purpose of giving up these types of media so I could spend more time in prayer, intentional listening to God, etc. I haven't been very good at that. Instead I've either spent more time working on my homework (which is actually a plus) or else looking up random articles online to read. For the remainder of lent I'm going to try really hard to only use my computer for homework related things or blogging. That way I can spend more time with God and also in real relationships with people.
I've also realized that not that much happens on facebook that I'm really needing to check up on. Occasionally I find myself thinking that I could post something on someone's wall or something similar, but then I realize I got just text that person to tell them. Or I could call them or just tell them in person when I see them. Also my friend Traci wrote me a letter and so we've started a little snail mail correspondence. I love getting mail so I have enjoyed that so far and actually I'm finding out more about her life through that than I probably would have on facebook.
As far as the original purpose of giving up these types of media so I could spend more time in prayer, intentional listening to God, etc. I haven't been very good at that. Instead I've either spent more time working on my homework (which is actually a plus) or else looking up random articles online to read. For the remainder of lent I'm going to try really hard to only use my computer for homework related things or blogging. That way I can spend more time with God and also in real relationships with people.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Lent
I've never given anything up for lent in my life before. I always associated giving things up for lent with being Catholic. I don't know if it was never mentioned in church growing up or if I just wasn't really paying attention. This year however, after hearing the sermon (when your spirit runs dry) this Sunday I got to thinking that maybe I should give something up.
The things that I took away from the sermon was how easy it is to let your spirit run dry. We have so many distractions in our lives that take away from our relationships and our time with God. I am so guilty of spending so much time on facebook, twitter, etc. I'm not gaining life from the hours I spend on these websites. Instead I'm mainly just looking at other people's lives and seeing what is new in their worlds. It's also so automatic for me to go to my computer check my email and facebook and I do it multiple times in one sitting. Pastor Mike also discussed how we are all so overwhelmed and such because of all of our distractions. I find myself always saying that I don't have time for things because of work, school, etc. I don't have time to read my Bible or pray regularly. But in reality I do I have the time. I just don't make the time. Instead I spend my time on the computer doing random things.
This why I decided to give up facebook, twitter, and pintrest for lent. I spend so much of my time doing these things without helping me grow as a person. I hope that this will allow me the time I need to do my homework, while also allowing me to grow closer to God, which is really what Lent is all about.
Today at the Ash Wednesday service at Hope (you can watch it streaming live at 7 pm on the link above if you read this before or else I'm sure they'll put it up later) the message was on how clean is your (spiritual) house. It was a really good message and I really related to a lot that was said. I know that currently my spiritual life is very cluttered and not growing. The thing that really stood out to me from the sermon was when he talked about how much time you spend with God and how complacent people get in their faith. I know that lately I've gotten very complacent. I go to church each week and go through the motions. Yes, things resonate with me, but I don't actively seek to grow in my relationship with God. Instead I live off of the faith and examples of others. The stories the pastor tells on Sundays, the stories from Intervarsity on Wednesday, Christian books I've read, mission trips I've been on in the past. I really haven't been working on my relationship with God and growing in that.
My hope for this Lenten season is to grow closer to God and to have experiences with God that are uniquely mine. Instead of relying on the faith of others I want to rediscover who God is to me. I'm very much looking forward to this 40 day journey and seeing what God will do in my life especially with my very small sacrifice of not going on facebook, twitter, and pintrest. I'll hopefully be blogging more about this experience and where I'm going or where I'm struggling. Tomorrow I'll post a little bit more about what I've heard when I stop and listen to God.
Are you giving anything up for lent? Are you adding anything to your life?
The things that I took away from the sermon was how easy it is to let your spirit run dry. We have so many distractions in our lives that take away from our relationships and our time with God. I am so guilty of spending so much time on facebook, twitter, etc. I'm not gaining life from the hours I spend on these websites. Instead I'm mainly just looking at other people's lives and seeing what is new in their worlds. It's also so automatic for me to go to my computer check my email and facebook and I do it multiple times in one sitting. Pastor Mike also discussed how we are all so overwhelmed and such because of all of our distractions. I find myself always saying that I don't have time for things because of work, school, etc. I don't have time to read my Bible or pray regularly. But in reality I do I have the time. I just don't make the time. Instead I spend my time on the computer doing random things.
This why I decided to give up facebook, twitter, and pintrest for lent. I spend so much of my time doing these things without helping me grow as a person. I hope that this will allow me the time I need to do my homework, while also allowing me to grow closer to God, which is really what Lent is all about.
Today at the Ash Wednesday service at Hope (you can watch it streaming live at 7 pm on the link above if you read this before or else I'm sure they'll put it up later) the message was on how clean is your (spiritual) house. It was a really good message and I really related to a lot that was said. I know that currently my spiritual life is very cluttered and not growing. The thing that really stood out to me from the sermon was when he talked about how much time you spend with God and how complacent people get in their faith. I know that lately I've gotten very complacent. I go to church each week and go through the motions. Yes, things resonate with me, but I don't actively seek to grow in my relationship with God. Instead I live off of the faith and examples of others. The stories the pastor tells on Sundays, the stories from Intervarsity on Wednesday, Christian books I've read, mission trips I've been on in the past. I really haven't been working on my relationship with God and growing in that.
My hope for this Lenten season is to grow closer to God and to have experiences with God that are uniquely mine. Instead of relying on the faith of others I want to rediscover who God is to me. I'm very much looking forward to this 40 day journey and seeing what God will do in my life especially with my very small sacrifice of not going on facebook, twitter, and pintrest. I'll hopefully be blogging more about this experience and where I'm going or where I'm struggling. Tomorrow I'll post a little bit more about what I've heard when I stop and listen to God.
Are you giving anything up for lent? Are you adding anything to your life?
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