Givin' It Up...for a while...

Last Thursday I came home to find that our internet and cable was no more. This was partly a surprise. We called and ordered to have our cable TV shut off, but were still going to maintain the "phone plus internet" bundle. Doing so cut our monthly statement in HALF and since we have the instant streaming available through the Xbox and Netflix (I LOVE me some Netflix) we really aren't missing it. So...back to the "part" surprise. So they turned off the internet cable, also. I called and tried to get them to fix it, they couldn't. They scheduled us an appointment for a tech to come out on Monday...Ryan was NOT happy. Neither was I but I like to keep the focus on him when tempers flare...mine is SO not pretty so...DIVERT ATTENTION TO RYAN. Long story short, the guy just left about thirty minutes ago and we finally have internet service.

So I told all that to tell this, I quickly became aware how much time and energy is spent online (and yes, I know blogging counts, too) and so much of that online time is spent on Facebook. Crazy. I spend way too much time keeping tabs on old friends, looking at the pictures of them at parties, blah, blah, blah. And in realizing all of this, I'm giving up Facebook for Lent.

If you know me, you know I was raised Baptist and I never knew what Lent was until I became a Methodist (honestly, I'd hear people talking about it and wonder why in the world they were giving up cokes, candy, whatever for crap that comes out of the dryer vent...don't laugh, I've got tons more where that came from). I finally asked Ryan what Lent was and why people "give up" things. He explained it all to me ('cause he's the most awesome husband in the world and I can't repeat that enough) and the meaning and purpose behind it. After that, I decided that I really wanted to make something of it each year. Last year I gave up craft shopping. I didn't buy anything craft-wise the entire time. It was rough (mainly because I realized I had an addiction to crafts), but I was able to use up a lot of my "stock" and realized that I really did need to put a cap on it a little. I also quit trying to "find something to do" in the craft store and ended up making and giving away a lot of the crafts.

And this year I'm giving up Facebook. I've got a few reasons for this, some I'll share, some I won't (nothing bad, just things I'm working on with me). Mainly, the issue is how much time I spend on there...time that isn't even spent chatting or sending messages but merely looking at pictures, "hunting" people, pointless things that eat up time that could be spent doing something else...time that I could be praying, reading my Bible ('cause I struggle with this one the most), spending time with Ryan, or even sending a little note to someone.

So far, so good...I'm finding myself coming home from work and wanting to hop on and see what folks are doing, but I just turn on the radio, check email, and then get done and hop off the computer. Last year I had a mini life changing experience with the craft shopping...hopefully this year will do the same. Believe it or not, I'm kinda excited about it and welcome the change it might bring.

Also, YES, I know I was technically a little late on the implementation...but I think God understands and He'll say it's okay. :-)