Why I deactivated my facebook ;)

This is kind of an interesting post for me to write.  Typically, I write a blog post and then post a link to my facebook wall.  90% of the people who make their way to my blog, come by way of my posted link.  Yet, if you read the title, this is not an option for me right now.  :)

I "deactivated" my facebook 2 days ago, for a variety of reasons.  I will admit...I am a facebook addict.  I had the facebook app on my phone, and would check my notifications when I woke up in the morning.  I would spend a considerable amount of time catching up on the latest "news" while I drank my morning coffee.  Throughout the day, if i was bored, I would sit down and fool around on facebook.  Check this, comment there.  Look through someone's recently posted photos.  And every night before bed, I would check my notifications one last time before going to sleep for the night.

I would fear that I am alone in my pathetic addiction to Facebook, but I know for a fact that there are others, mostly women, who do the same thing that I do.  :)  And some women I know would be just as bad if they were home all day instead of at work.

So, when I clicked the reason I was deactivatiing my account (and Facebook requires you to give them a reason), "I spend to much time on Facebook" was number one on my list.  My days are super busy, my to-do list is typically longer than it should be.  I'm working on time management (I'm terrible at it...), so eliminating my number one distraction is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, but I just couldn't get myself to click the little button. Until now.  And I have felt very free.  :)

My second biggest reason I deactivated my account is gossip.  I'm a woman, and let's be honest...most women have a strong temptation to gossip.  I love a good story, and I love sharing it with fresh ears even more.  But I feel extremely convicted over it.

I prayed and prayed for an entire week about whether to let my account go, or just work my discipline regarding my time and my interest in knowing what my peeps are up to.  These verses came to mind again and again...

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

My other reason for wanting to let go of Facebook was in that first verse, too...I have been craving privacy, and a handful of people use facebook and my blog to keep an eye on my "business."  NO ONE has a right to the details of my private life, except occasionally my parents because I live in their home.  And they're my parents.  :)  I'm not even married anymore, so I don't have a husband to be accountable to.  I have the Lord, and I'm pretty good at keeping Him in the loop.  ;-)  But what is facebook, other than the worlds biggest peephole into your daily activities??  People tell you everything from their plans for the weekend, to the random thoughts running through their head.  There is no privacy in the land of social media.  And if I'm putting bits and pieces of my life out there for everyone to see, it will be used for good and for bad, depending on the heart who reads it.

So...I read verse 11 over and over again.

'Lead a quiet life" said to me that I don't need to tell my 367 Facebook friends what I'm doing today.  I get up, I lay my day at the Lord's feet and ask Him to bless it and walk me through it, and we go on to accomplish it all together.  Quietly.  Just me and the Lord (and 4-7 kids, but you get my point...)

"to mind your own business"  Do I need to know what everyone else is doing??  My day is super busy.  If I lose focus, I don't get it all done.  Why should I interested be in the affairs of others, when my own affairs are enough to keep my attention all day long?

"and to work with your hands"  I'm lazy.  I said it.  I think I've even said it before.  I hate that I'm lazy, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't.  I also get distracted very easily, and I waste my time on pointless activities.  It's another weakness I'm learning to gain control over.  If I am on facebook, I am not doing anything productiive.  Occasionally I will read a prayer request, and send up a prayer.  But that is less than a minute of my day.  The rest is a clear waste of my time.  I could be folding laundry, preparing dinner, reading the kids some books, and so on.  Until I am good at "working with my hands" instead of floating through my day, I am choosing to eliminate my big distractions.  I have cut TV and fiction novels out of my life.  It's Facebooks turn.  :)

And lastly..."so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."  I said that there are hearts that judge me by things I put on facebook.  They watch what I do, form opinions, and then talk about me amongst themselves.  ANYONE who is following the Lord with their entire heart and soul is going to have people in their life who do this.  It's pretty much inevitable.  But if you are the person God wants you to be, if you acknowledge your weaknesses and form the discipline and determination to overcome them, and if you mature daily in Christ, what bad does anyone have to say about you??  If I waste my time and merely "get through each day alive," then I have nothing to stand on in the face of criticism.  But if I pray each morning, read my bible to get my mind focused, and then maintain that focus all day long, I can go to bed each night knowing that each day was blessed and I brought the Lord Glory with the the "work I did with my hands."

I have 4 children of my own.  I babysit regularly.  I'm a single mother, and I live with my parents.  I homeschool.  I like to have a social life, and I like to be involved and serve at my church.

I'm B-U-S-Y.  I cannot do all of the things I desire to do if I give in to my weaknesses.  And if I am slacking, I face criticism.  If I gossip or maintain interest in the affairs of those around me, I suffer from disobedience.  In the light of all those things, I deactivated my Facebook account.  And you know what??  After I got throught the 15 minutes of panic ( a sign that I truly was addicted), I felt a huge wave of relief.  Each day that has gone by, I have felt more and more free.

I prayed about my blog.   Should I let it go, too?  But God has very clearly said the same thing He always says..."the blog is Mine and it's one more thing I ask of you, for my Glory."  I can't argue with that, even if I don't understand it.  :)  And I get such a joyful feeling knowing that God asks me to do things and I do them.  I see the direction He's taking me, and I am so very, very excited.

We serve an awesome God.  And in seeking to be the Liz that He wants me to be, I let Facebook go.  Maybe one day I will activate it again, but right now I am looking forward to being and doing everything that He wants.  It requires all kinds of discipline, and the blessing are worth the discomfort.  :)

God's good.  Have I said that before??  :)