In the Ongoing Battle

Priorities. I've been giving a lot of thought to mine lately. I think this post of Shannon's was the final nudge I needed to make a commitment to change, but it's been looming large for a while now.

I couldn't agree with Shannon more that we have become too plugged in and too accessible. I joined Facebook to keep in touch with my youth girls during the week. I also found old schoolmates and friends of friends. It soon became overwhelming, the constant barrage of information from everyone. Do I really care to know how someone I haven't seen in 20 years spent her day? Does she need to know how I spent mine?

It's too much.

Not too long ago, I got a friend request from someone I've never had a conversation with (I know who she is from school, but we were not in the same grade or the same social circle.) I saw her the same week she made the request, and she did not even acknowledge me. Granted, I didn't rush right up to talk to her either. But I wasn't the one who made the friend request. I got another similar request from someone else this week. I'm not interested in being a number on someone's FB page. I have made one giant cut to my list, and I'm giving serious thought to making another. I think FB is great for keeping up with friends. But I am tired of being bombarded with the various invitations and quiz results. My brain is on overload.

At first, Twitter seemed like great fun. But it, too, became overwhelming to me. I recently got a flood of email notices that people I've never heard of were following me! Who knew I was so popular? I guess it doesn't matter that I haven't posted anything on Twitter in months. I've decided to delete my account.

And where do I begin with blogging? Those of you who've been around here for a while know that blogging, priorities, and proper perspective have been an ongoing struggle for me. Do I post too often? Not often enough? Does anyone think I'm interesting, funny, or wise? Does anyone care? Oh, the people pleaser in me needs to know these things! Yet I've realized that having a large blog readership/following is not part of God's agenda for me. I have made some true friends through blogging. I've discovered so much about God and myself. I've learned how to be more frugal and keep things simple. I've realized the importance of studying His Word and having accountability partners. It's been wonderful.

BUT...

I need to make some serious changes. Which means:

~Reading less and commenting even lesser. The blogs I read are written by amazing women. Women of character, wisdom, and warmth. They don't need me to validate their importance in the Kingdom of God. I will comment only when I have something valuable to add to the conversation. No more commenting just to let someone know I was there. I will take the (somewhat) more personal approach of emailing my bloggy friends to keep in contact with them.

There are more wonderful, godly blogs out there than I could ever read in a lifetime. The blogosphere is deceptively small at times. I think I'm going for just a little jaunt, only to discover I've been sucked into its vastness and wasted a huge amount of time I didn't have in the first place. I might be missing out on some great reading, but I'll be reclaiming an even greater part of my life.

~Not caving to pressure to post something for the sake of posting. More than anything else, I want you to leave my blog feeling like your time here mattered, you learned something and were blessed. More changes may come, but for now I will most likely limit my posting to three areas: (1) Seeking Him Together Bible Study (for growth, accountability, and just plain fun!); (2) my upcoming trip to Peru (because I'm learning a lot, and I covet your prayers); and (3) reading (because everyone loves a good book, right?). Honestly, I'd rather live my life than write about it.

So, you'll be hearing less from me. But, as Shannon wrote, the best words are the ones that are punctuated with enough silence between them.