Can you hear me now?
I kicked the habit yesterday...for 14 hours anyway. I didn't mean to...but I accidentally left my phone at home when we left in the morning, and we didn't have time to turn around and get it.
It was a bit unnerving at first but since I was driving, I couldn't have used it much anyway. My husband sat beside me playing solitaire on his phone while our 15-year-old was in the back seat scrolling through videos on some app that he likes. Once we met up with our friends, I became a backseat passenger and almost missed my phone - but my friend and I enjoyed real, face-to-face conversation for the 48 mile ride to the MWXC race that my boys were racing in.
The races are always a fun day. Hundreds of fans and racers tailgating in cornfields along a marked track where dirt bikes would zip by sending dust and mud flying through the air. We typically set up our shade tents a few feet off the track where the boys can easily pit for gas and water. There are a dozen of us in the Boller Racing/ Ringis Racing gang hanging out in lawn chairs, surrounded by coolers and a small charcoal grill. The smell of charred hot dogs and exhaust fumes lingers in the air. We were lucky enough to enjoy blue skies and a temperature in the high 70's. It was a glorious day!
I missed my phone a couple of times because I couldn't take photos or videos at the race - but every other person in attendance took photos and videos, so I'll just look at theirs on Facebook (and tag myself!) I also missed my phone once when I wanted to know what time it was, but I went old-school and asked somebody for the time, and three people pulled their phones out to check for me.
After chatting with my friend's sister for a while it occurred to me, that had I been sitting there with my phone in hand I would have likely missed much of the conversation. I try to stay engaged, but if my phone beeps or vibrates, I always pick it up to see who needs me or what sort of emergency I might be missing. Usually that emergency is someone 'liking' a picture or a comment on Facebook.
It was so refreshing to be totally engaged and present in the moment. I think we, as a society, have forgotten how important that can be. I wondered if I could make this a habit - leaving my phone at home one day a week. I wondered if God would give me credit for fasting. :)
It was such a profound eye-opener, that I knew immediately that this would be the topic of my next post. I was certain that there had to be some scripture to back me up on this... but even though "Though shall not text during dinner," should be a holy commandment, I couldn't find it in the bible.
What I did come across was a blog entry that talked about treating scripture with the same 'reverence' we give our cell phones: flipping through them frequently, giving them as gifts to our children, using them in case of emergencies. And that blog was written four years ago! If your life is anything like mine, my whole family depends far more on our phones now than we did four years ago... we still had a land line back then...crazy how things have changed.
But I love the concept! And aren't we lucky to have Bible apps that we can access from our phones? Tons of translations of God's holy word, right at our finger tips...but I digress. Because I'm not promoting phone usage today. To the contrary, I'm asking...begging you all to join me and PUT IT DOWN FOR A DAY! Maybe we could start a national movement. Like Earth Day, when we are encouraged to turn out the lights for an hour... let's all turn off our phones for an hour and make eye contact with the people around us. Strike up a conversation! SMILE!
Most of us remember a time when we were young and our parents had to trust us to leave home with the family car and return by curfew without the benefit of having a phone in our pocket. I'm sure we were safer...because we weren't trying to text and drive. If our car broke down, we walked to someone's house to use a phone. We survived.
People say that technology has made the world smaller...I'm not sure I agree. A smaller world was one where the only kids I knew lived on the same bus route as me and I could ride my bicycle
to their house. Now our kids have Facebook friends from all around the country and while it may be a good thing on one hand, it still lacks the human element.
We are missing opportunities to connect to our loved ones, and it's sad to watch. I'm as guilty as the next person, so I'm certainly not pointing fingers. I was just fortunate enough to forget my phone and realize that we CAN indeed survive a few hours (!) without them.
Let's try it together...because if you're not texting me, and I'm not texting you, then we're not missing anything, and we can be free to live in the moment. Smell the roses, hear the birds chirping and enjoy the day!
Be blessed...and until tomorrow...over and OUT!
It was a bit unnerving at first but since I was driving, I couldn't have used it much anyway. My husband sat beside me playing solitaire on his phone while our 15-year-old was in the back seat scrolling through videos on some app that he likes. Once we met up with our friends, I became a backseat passenger and almost missed my phone - but my friend and I enjoyed real, face-to-face conversation for the 48 mile ride to the MWXC race that my boys were racing in.
The races are always a fun day. Hundreds of fans and racers tailgating in cornfields along a marked track where dirt bikes would zip by sending dust and mud flying through the air. We typically set up our shade tents a few feet off the track where the boys can easily pit for gas and water. There are a dozen of us in the Boller Racing/ Ringis Racing gang hanging out in lawn chairs, surrounded by coolers and a small charcoal grill. The smell of charred hot dogs and exhaust fumes lingers in the air. We were lucky enough to enjoy blue skies and a temperature in the high 70's. It was a glorious day!
I missed my phone a couple of times because I couldn't take photos or videos at the race - but every other person in attendance took photos and videos, so I'll just look at theirs on Facebook (and tag myself!) I also missed my phone once when I wanted to know what time it was, but I went old-school and asked somebody for the time, and three people pulled their phones out to check for me.
After chatting with my friend's sister for a while it occurred to me, that had I been sitting there with my phone in hand I would have likely missed much of the conversation. I try to stay engaged, but if my phone beeps or vibrates, I always pick it up to see who needs me or what sort of emergency I might be missing. Usually that emergency is someone 'liking' a picture or a comment on Facebook.
It was so refreshing to be totally engaged and present in the moment. I think we, as a society, have forgotten how important that can be. I wondered if I could make this a habit - leaving my phone at home one day a week. I wondered if God would give me credit for fasting. :)
It was such a profound eye-opener, that I knew immediately that this would be the topic of my next post. I was certain that there had to be some scripture to back me up on this... but even though "Though shall not text during dinner," should be a holy commandment, I couldn't find it in the bible.
What I did come across was a blog entry that talked about treating scripture with the same 'reverence' we give our cell phones: flipping through them frequently, giving them as gifts to our children, using them in case of emergencies. And that blog was written four years ago! If your life is anything like mine, my whole family depends far more on our phones now than we did four years ago... we still had a land line back then...crazy how things have changed.
But I love the concept! And aren't we lucky to have Bible apps that we can access from our phones? Tons of translations of God's holy word, right at our finger tips...but I digress. Because I'm not promoting phone usage today. To the contrary, I'm asking...begging you all to join me and PUT IT DOWN FOR A DAY! Maybe we could start a national movement. Like Earth Day, when we are encouraged to turn out the lights for an hour... let's all turn off our phones for an hour and make eye contact with the people around us. Strike up a conversation! SMILE!
Most of us remember a time when we were young and our parents had to trust us to leave home with the family car and return by curfew without the benefit of having a phone in our pocket. I'm sure we were safer...because we weren't trying to text and drive. If our car broke down, we walked to someone's house to use a phone. We survived.
People say that technology has made the world smaller...I'm not sure I agree. A smaller world was one where the only kids I knew lived on the same bus route as me and I could ride my bicycle
We are missing opportunities to connect to our loved ones, and it's sad to watch. I'm as guilty as the next person, so I'm certainly not pointing fingers. I was just fortunate enough to forget my phone and realize that we CAN indeed survive a few hours (!) without them.
Let's try it together...because if you're not texting me, and I'm not texting you, then we're not missing anything, and we can be free to live in the moment. Smell the roses, hear the birds chirping and enjoy the day!
Be blessed...and until tomorrow...over and OUT!
Comments
Post a Comment