Hey Friends!
Y’all know I love my man!
John and I celebrated 15 years of marriage this summer, and every season gets sweeter.
Can I get a Woo Hoo?! 🙂
Not that it’s been easy (y’all marriage is hard) and we are as different as night and day (yes, exact opposites) —BUT I love every minute I’m with John, and aspire to be the Godly wife God desires for me to be.
Except we all know I’m so not perfect.
A few weeks ago I decided I was intentionally slowing down. My mind and body were still recovering from my whirlwind schedule, and I felt dangerously close to a melt down.
And if Mama melts down it just ain’t pretty.
Saturday morning I turned off my phone and the computer and declared to myself I was going offline for the entire weekend. Sometimes we need to power down to get powered back up. Not a huge deal, right?Â
I do like to check my email and FB and blog updates —but it’s not like I’m online that much when my family is home. (I don’t think so, anyway). My office is right next to the kitchen, so if I happen to walk by, it’s convenient to quickly stop and see what my friends are up to or shoot off a quick email reply…but I’m sure my family doesn’t even notice.
Right?
Back to this weekend…so Saturday afternoon, John sat down at the computer. Quickly he called for me. “Cindy, there’s something wrong with our computer! It’s not working!”
He was being completely serious.
I shared, “Honey, It’s not broken —just powered down. I turned it off for the weekend.”
My man shouted “SWEET!”
I was completely confused. John again shouted, “SWEET!” I finally asked what in the world he was talking about.
John shared very matter-of-factly, “Oh good. Finally I’ll feel like I’m most important again.”
Picture me — speechless and sad.Â
Feeling heartbroken that my man would think he was less important than a computer. And in shock to realize what my nonverbals were saying to the man I love so dearly.
My online time was communicating “the computer” was more important than my marriage.
Ugh.
You have to know that this is a painful post to share. My conversation with John left me devastated, especially thinking my choices had been hurtful to him. But I’m so grateful I could speak and demonstrate through my actions the truth to my husband.
I’ll definitely make different choices to communicate who (besides Jesus) really is the love of my life.
I love my man and NOT my computer or my phone.
How about for you, dear friends?
What does your online time communicate to your husband? Your children? Your neighborhood?
What steps/boundaries/safe guards have you put in place to keep first things first?
I’d love to hear (and learn) from you!
Thanks for stopping by my blog *She Sparkles*! God’s richest blessings to you!
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…repost from the archives
Well, I’m not doing so well in this area either, so I have no ideas to share! I’m convicted, right there with you, Cindy. For me, it starts with filling in the empty spaces of my day. But then I start filling in the empty spaces of my heart.
Thanks for the reminder to keep first things first–even when other demands seem so important. Sometimes I look back five years or so, and think, “What would I say was most important then, from this vantage point?” And that helps me get clarity on today.