My foot with its broken, swollen, purple toe propped up on the coffee table – coffee cup in hand, still sporting my Christmas pajamas, I live-streamed our church service today. Ten minutes after the closing prayer, my doorbell rang. My grocery delivery arrived. I timed that perfectly! I texted a close friend and she stopped by and picked up something that needed to be dropped off for a friend. I paid my bills on the laptop and scheduled an appointment for the end of the month on their web site.
None of this would have been possible without technology. Technology is good. Right?
This week my son introduced me to an app for keeping track of screen time on my phone. YIKES! Even with a recent agreement with a close girlfriend of mine to avoid FaceBook for the month of December, the amount of time I spend daily looking at my phone is scary. And sad. Technology is bad.
Or is it? Is it good or bad?
I’m quick to say that someday people are going to miss looking at each other in the face, eye-to-eye, yet – the amount of time I’ve spent looking at my own phone is pretty convicting too. There is absolutely no way that I have NOT missed out on some people having spent this much time on my phone and yet in my own mind, I’ve reasoned that it’s only been for necessities that I even pick it up.
I suppose I need to re-examine my necessities, and my priorities, and can think of quite a few faces I’d like to see in person this coming year too. And speaking of the coming year, it’s December 30 – not quite New Year’s Eve, but since I have to work tomorrow, this is my last day off, and technically my last day of the year at home. So I can’t help but to ponder what really matters in this new year that’s upon me. Don’t we all do that?
I have a few upcoming appointments scheduled with a financial advisor to plan for my future, and attempt to make up for my younger foolish years when I thought I couldn’t afford to save for the retirement years. Thankfully, I have TIME to make up for those years.
Or do I? Gosh, I hope so.
I recently asked on social media for a good financial advisor, and so many people made so many suggestions. But, does anyone know of a good time advisor? One that can look back at how I’ve wasted time, or used it foolishly, and can tell me how much to set aside each day to make up for what I’ve lost?
Oh wait! I do! Thanks to my son for introducing me to that screen-time app, I do! I do!
Go to settings on your iPhone, scroll down to screen time, and have a quick glance.
Yikes.
But even your Smart phone isn’t smart enough to tell you how much TIME you’ve got left. When you waste it, it’s just gone, gone, gone.
Yes, I’ll still be using social media, and I’ll still spend time on my lap top texting and keeping in touch with people. But hopefully my screen time will look a LOT different this time next year, because I can’t help tonight but ponder things such as – What would my relationship with God look like if I spent four hours a day in His Word? In prayer? With family? Doing meaningful things instead of scrolling through social media and posting selfie after selfie, or a picture of every cloud that passed by?
No New Year’s Resolutions here. Just end of one year and beginning of new year pondering, that’s all. I am anticipating a lot less social media, and God willing, more TIME with God, more time with people, and doing things that don’t get calculated into more screen time.
I want to see your faces.
Happy New Year!
“You’ll never, ever regret spending time doing things that have eternal value.” Jerry Carnill, my friend.
Oh that Jerry, what sage advice. Yep, I monitor time on the screen & don’t let it rule my life or TIME that can be better spent. Happy New Year!