Screen Disease

The other day, my husband and I were grabbing a coffee, sitting in the sun, and having a conversation. At the table next to us were two parents, with three children under the age of 9. Mom and dad were both staring at their phones, never speaking a word. No words, just staring at screens. The two older kids tried to talk to mom and dad about going for a bike ride or playing at the park, but they would not return their conversation. The youngest girl, probably 2, was deeply sucked in to a tablet, neck bent way over, not even knowing their was a real life around her. Not only is that sad that this little one is already addicted to the tablet, but it's a horrible thing for her body, her neck. My chiropractor told me he is seeing extremely high amounts of bulging discs in kids, all because of too much screen time. Those discs will affect them for the rest of their life. 

I see this scenario played out all the time. It's sad. It's an addiction, just like drugs, porn, alcohol. People are addicted to their phones and are making their kids the same way. Yes, I have a phone and tablet, and yes, I spend time on them, but I also intentionally put them away, and spend time with REAL people, face to face. 

Are you willing to reclaim your life, to really live life? THIS LIFE ISN'T A DRESS REHEARSAL! This is it. Once a day, a moment is gone, it's gone. Those moments you missed with your loved ones because you were staring at a screen can never be recaptured. At the end of your life, do you think you will look back and be happy how much time you spent staring at Facebook, Pinterest, Pokemon, Instagram, gaming, instead of sharing life and conversations with people, your loved ones, your friends, your family? 

Take time this weekend to disconnect. Fly a kite, go for a bike ride, build a fort, go fishing, watch a sunset, take a nap, have a water fight, laugh, go on a picnic, actually have a real face to face conversation with someone, go camping, shut the devices off and recapture your life! Your life will be much less stressed because you intentionally disconnect. I guarantee, nothing earth shattering will happen on FB that you will miss! However, if you don't look up, shut down, you are missing the beauty in creation around you, you are missing talking and laughing with your friends and family. This life is all there is on this side of eternity, don't waste it! 

Sunsets

I was recently designing some backgrounds to use in multimedia presentations.  A friend of ours was close by and watching. He said "Once you have seen one or two sunsets, you have seen them all. There isn't any point in capturing a photo of a sunset more than twice."  I looked at him, eyebrows raised, and said "You obviously don't watch sunsets! Each sunset is different, a new Masterpiece from our Creator." He laughed and said he obviously didn't look at the world like I did. I joked back and said obviously not, maybe you should begin! We laughed over it, but there is a  lot of truth in examining how we see the world. 

A few weeks ago, I was so busy, I didn't stop to see the cloud formations, the birds, the sunsets, or anything but work. I was grumpy. I realized I needed to grab my camera and go capture some creation. I took an hour. That hour deeply refreshed my soul. I slowed down, took in the beauty of a lake, the mountains, geese, old barns, and I took time to breathe. I needed that time. 

Back to my sunset discussion. Each sunset is unique. Beautiful. Breathtaking. 

Do you stop long enough to notice? Do you put down your phone long enough to see it?  

Take time to see the beauty. Take time to breathe it  in. Each moment of beauty, each sunset, is a gift. 

Rooted

It was approaching the beginning 2016, and my husband and I decided to do the one word challenge this year.  MY ONE WORD website  One word. Just one word for the year to strive for, live by. One word to transform your life. I prayed about that one word for 10 days. Nothing. I had ideas. As a matter of fact, I have a full page of words I wrote down, but when I went to implement them as my one word for 2016, it felt like God was saying "Nope, that is not the word." Word after word, each a no. I am not a person who likes to wait, so waiting for 10 days felt like a very long time, and I was at a point of thinking maybe I wasn't supposed to have ONE WORD this year.  

Our church is starting a new campus and on day 10 of praying and searching for that word, we were setting up for our second preview service. The day had been so busy with tech set up, I honestly hadn't thought of my word all day. At the end of a very long, but wonderful day, I pulled up the YouVersion Bible app to read a verse our pastor was referencing. 

 As I went to read the screen of my phone, my eyes went up two verses. I hadn't really read any words, but my eyes went to one word. It was as if God made it bolder and expanded it, and said there it is! Rooted. Rooted? But that isn't the word I had thought. I mean I thought my word would be hope, or be present, or patience....Rooted?  I stood and stared at it for a few seconds and said to God, so this is my word? There wasn't any doubt at all. I knew I had my word for the year. Why rooted? I don't know, but there is a reason. 

This is the verse:

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:16-19

I was in a study three years back on Colossians, and Colossians 2:6-7 is a key verse, as well. 

"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness."

A couple years ago was the first time I did the One Word challenge. My word was overcome. Overcome I did. I overcame lifetime fears, hang ups, habits, and attitudes that weighed me down. I walked across a swinging bridge which is a couple hundred feet above a roaring river. I do not like heights, particularly above water and roaring water doesn't help! To increase that fear, add in a bridge made of planks, that swings, that is only wide enough for one person. It took awhile, but I made it. Twice. I overcame a huge fear.  The fear of that task was just one of many things God had me overcome that year. It was a year of deep transformation and victory over things that had me stuck. 

How about you? Do you have a one word? It's not too late to pray about it, and see where that journey takes you over the rest of the year. It's a great way to begin fresh and renew a portion of who you are, how you view life. We all need new beginnings, and they are available to us every day. We just have to take the first step to transform our lives. 

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