It's been a full week now of being "signed off" from Facebook, and I've started thinking through what this past week has been like without it. I've been pondering what's been different without that familiar blue and white log in screen readily available to me. I have to be honest, while there are a couple things I miss about Facebook, this past week has been SO much more focused and productive, it truly is unreal how much of a difference signing off has made for me. It hasn't been 100% easy, or without temptation, but it truly has been a fantastic break. A friend of mine told me she gave up Facebook a few years ago for Lent and said, "oh you'll love it, it will change your life for the better," and she's kind of right. I do miss seeing what some folks are up to. I miss commenting on the GPC high school girl's pages and photos, I miss seeing my sister's status updates which usually have something cute to do with Lily, and my 13 year old niece just got her own Facebook page so I'm bummed to not get to interact with her a bit more on there, but on the whole, I am amazed at the space it has opened up in my life. I am getting so much more done--when I sit down to answer an email, pay our bills, grade papers, or work on something for Charles in the office, I am finding myself actually doing that task! I know, what a concept, right?? I'm reading a lot more, since my main source of internet time is no longer available to me, I'm getting our housework done a lot more efficiently and am able to be at the church more to help my husband. I'm actually starting my day reading scripture and journaling my prayers instead of clicking around seeing what 700 people did the previous night. I had no idea randomly clicking around various people's pages was really sucking up so much of my time, but this past week has shown me that this was in fact the case. I did sign on last Sunday (Sundays are "feast days" during Lent, so you are allowed to partake of whatever you are fasting from) and honestly my initial reaction was a feeling of being overwhelmed. Way too much information was in front of me about way too many different people and I found I didn't really know where to start. Apparently when you don't check Facebook every couple hours the posts and photos and updates accumulate to an overwhelming quantity.
I'm really not trying to knock social networking, I think there are some amazing aspects to it and it has been wonderful to be able to remain in contact with some folks who are far away. However, if anyone is feeling like they might need to sign off for a little while, I want to encourage you to give it a try, even if it's just for a day or two. There's nothing magical about Lent--just because you may not have begun a fast on Ash Wednesday does not mean it is too late to enter into something for part of the remaining 5 weeks. Lent is about creating space for Jesus, and during this season of transition, change, and a lot of ups and downs, I've needed that space. It feels safer sometimes, to simply hide behind technology when we're feeling less than our best, but I'm slowly discovering that even though the risk is greater, when we give Jesus that extra space to speak, some pretty amazing things can happen. Some pretty desperate prayers can be answered, and we slowly find ourselves a bit more connected...to ourselves, those we share our home with, our friends, and the One who is waiting for us to give Him space to speak.
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