For Once, There Isn’t an App for This

If there’s one thing Brianna and I are, it’s planners. We always are coming up with some type of plan for something. When I don’t have a plan for something, it drives me nuts. What am I trying to get at with this? When pondering the past week or so what I’d write about on here, I was drawing a complete blank.

Zero ideas came to mind. Just when I thought I’d have something, I realized it probably wasn’t noteworthy enough to talk about. I kept coming to a dead end on idea after idea.

My prayer last night before bed was asking for clarity, and this morning when I woke up I still had no clue what I’d write about. It was today around lunch time when God planted something on my heart to share with you.

Thank you Jesus — *me pointing at the sky*

I’ve noticed recently when Brianna and I are out on a date, getting groceries, or even walking back to our apartment, people insist on being alone. That can mean even if they’re with others too. Phones have sucked our society into a alternate society that doesn’t exist.

Why though? That’s crazy! Friends, heads should be up, not down. It seems as if cell phones have begun to replace face-to-face fellowship, which is one of the greatest things that we’ve been blessed with.

That’s one of the things I’m so thankful for with Brianna. Since day one that I’ve known her, she’s never been one to be trapped in a phone or tablet. Seeing that inspired me to be the same way, which is really how I feel like I overcame constantly checking my phone.

An experience that really solidified this truth to me was when we went on our honeymoon. We were incredibly blessed to go to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic (which we highly recommend) for the week, but it felt like we were there so much longer than that.

*Quick side note: I bet Brianna and I saved about $1,500 dollars booking our trip through Groupon instead of directly going to the resort’s site. It’s a great way to save for a trip you might be interested in.

Back to my point.

For once, we were experiencing life without any possible way to check a phone or computer. It was just Brianna and I, no third-wheel, no nothing. Each day felt like it was twice as long as normal. By the time we left, it felt as if we had stayed for two weeks, not just one. This experience leads to my next point.

Something we’ve always held in high regard, even since our dating relationship, is spending time together technology free. Ever since we’ve been married, what we try doing on the weekends is putting our phones away. Because of this, Monday has taken so much longer to get to than if we’d been on our phones.

There’s plenty of other activities you could do instead. For example, we go to the pool on the weekends, watch movies, or go have a treat somewhere. What you remember the most is the experiences shared with other people, not with your device. As much as I’d like to tell you my high scores on Angry Birds two years ago, there’s no way I could (and I’m not even sure if I even played that game two years ago).

That’s sort of my point, distractions don’t matter. Writing about this makes me think about what I was just recently reading in my Bible. The parable it reminds me of is the parable of the weeds. In Matthew when Jesus is telling the story, he said the seeds of weeds were sown along the path of the good seeds (the wheat) in the night by his enemy. The weeds ended up choking out the good seeds of wheat.

In terms of our own personal life, the good seeds really remind me of our loved ones that we have. Tablets and phones represent the weeds that choked out the seeds of wheat as they grew. They’ve become distractions, and that’s what Jesus tells us in this parable.

We have distractions in life that can hinder not only our relationship with the Lord, but in the case of technology, fellowship with others. If I could have one takeaway for you it’d be this. Make time for others, and not just time but face-to-face time. Spend time with them. It could be your spouse, friends, or family members. Those will be the memories you make and remember.

Interested in hearing more about the value of spending time together? Feel free to go and check out last weeks story about how Brianna and I spend Thyme Together in the kitchen!