Disconnecting, So my family can Reconnect!

It's with me 24/7 and I have even turned around my car when I realized I've left it. One click and I've found it. It's my calendar, my personal assistant, my secret keeper, my photo box and my go to when ever I'm in doubt. I bet it didn't take you long to realize I'm talking about my cell phone. 

I use to scoff at those who couldn't seem to live without it, especially those whose face seemed to be glued to the screen. Now I am her and she is me. I am the present but absent wife who finds her Facebook timeline more interesting than her husband. I am the mother who can't seem to fully comprehend the request of her children because of my most recent text. I am she, who waist hours in an already time capped life span, living vicariously through the posts of others. 

Well today I say, enough of this nonsense! It's time for me to power down so my family can reconnect and I can get back to living the connected life God meant for me to have. 

From this day forward, I will power down when I get home. This means my phone, my IPad, my Apple Watch and any other electronic device will be shut down and I will focus 100% of my time on those before me: my family. The time I spend with my face in my phone can never be recovered and in the process I will have missed my children grow from boys to men. I will have missed my husband's desire to just be the most important person in the room to me at the time.  

According to a recent study completed earlier this year the average adult spends eight hours and 41 minutes on an electronic device. That's more than some adults sleep at night. Not to mention that four in ten adults will wake in the middle of the night just to check their phone. And that not all, we will spend more time at the table on our phone than eating dinner, breakfast or lunch. In short, it is the first thing we do, what we do all day and the last thing we do before we go to bed. 

So what does all this mean? It's time to power down. Cell phones have replaced authentic connectedness with an artificial one. People no longer talk to each other at dinner. Instead we text those not in attendance. The family room is now empty as our children skip off to their respective places in the house to chat with the many friends they have connected with online. While mom and dad sit next to each other in bed playing with their phones. Stopping occasionally to share a post or video they found interesting. 

Will it be difficult? Of course! I have lived this false sense of existence for far to long to think that overcoming it will be easy. But I will, and I will no because I do not have to go at this alone. I will pray and invite Jesus to help me. 

Will you stand with me on this? Will you disconnect, so that you and your family can connect?