Why I’m going to stop sacrificing to the blue-and-white god

Natch that, I *know* I’m addicted.

Hi, I’m Christie and I’m addicted to Facebook.

I knew it was happening, but I didn’t do anything to stop it.

Somehow scrolling through Facebook became more important than spending time with my husband. It became more important than playing with my kids, more important than spending time with God.

Several months ago I placed a good devotional book in the bathroom so I could spend a few minutes in God while doing my business. But how many pages have I actually read? About 6. And why is that?

Because I, like many other people, bring Facebook with me into the bathroom. (I promise I’m not typing this post in there…)

This afternoon my son woke up from his nap while I was reading an open letter from our new Prime Minister to civil servants, and I actually let him cry for quite a few minutes while I tried to finish. Am I a civil servant? Nope. So why was it so important that I neglected my poor toddler to read it? Ummm….

Like the slow eroding of a great chasm, my soul is being eroded by the constant stream from my newsfeed. 

I can feel it slowly sucking away my life, like a black hole changing the way I interact with time itself. 

What is it I like so much about Facebook? The recent political battle has had me reading endless interesting articles about various topics that touch political life. It’s nice to feel well-informed. I like to see what my friends are doing. Occasionally I pick up something from my local buy-and-sell or upcycling page. I follow some of my favourite writer pages, like the MOB Society and The Better Mom. (I’m not going to link to them because I’m trying really hard NOT to look at the blue and white god right now. Google them though, they’re great!)

Let’s be honest though, the reason I check most often is to see if someone has liked one of my posts or to see if someone has responded to a comment I made. It’s really quite selfish and has nothing to do with bettering the world or being well-informed.

The development of my addiction to Facebook has been the development of an addiction to myself.

And quite embarrassingly, I didn’t see it until today when I left the baby crying so I could finish my useless reading.

So yes, you’ll probably still see me on Facebook, posting occasionally about the crazy parts of motherhood and checking personal messages. (as an aside, I turned around today and Rex was dumping corn syrup on the floor! Thankfully I can blame that distraction making supper and not on the blue and white god.)

But by the LORD’s grace, the blue and white god will no longer be my god. I’m going to stop sacrificing my relationships on its altar.

The LORD, He shall be my god, and I will be his people.

3 hacks to help cut down your Facebook time:

1. Remove the app from your mobile device.
2. Removing the app not enough? It wasn’t for me! It was WAY to easy to keep that browser open. I went into my phone and restricted Facebook. (On an iPhone, follow this path: Settings–>General–>Restrictions–>Websites–>Never allow. Once you get here, you can add Facebook!) Seriously. It’s been a real timesaver.
3. On your computer? Give yourself time limits or time cutoffs. Honestly, this doesn’t work for me (hence the above two points), but it might work for you!