What am I doing?!

My family attended church this past Sunday at a new church. This was my first time in 11 years attending church. I received a post card in the mail titled "To Save a Family" and they will be having weekly sermons on various topics. Well, the first topic was "Communication". It was a VERY eye opening sermon and I am anxious to see how it transforms my life, but it's up to me to apply it to such. I wanted to give you a little of what this message was about.

The word "family" has evolved and 'modernized' just like technology. Decades ago, family was a unit that consisted of a Mother, Father, and children who spent 99% of their time together. They worked at the home together, ate meals together, and enjoyed entertainment together. Often times, "entertainment" was sitting around the fire for light and warmth while Dad would read a book to the family, often times the bible. The children would share beds to keep each other warm. Could you imagine how that would go over with our families this day in age? How would your children react if you said, "No we're not going to the movies but we're going to gather around the fire as a family while Dad reads a book." I don't think it would be received very well.

When the family was traveling to church they traveled TOGETHER, often times in a wagon going at a slow rate of speed. What did they have to keep them occupied? Each other and their conversations. The family that we know might not even travel in the same vehicle. Dad might of had to work, the teenager is at a friends house, Mom is running late or had to run an errand first. IF the family is traveling in the same vehicle there are often very few words spoken. The children have their DVD players, the teenagers have their Ipods, Mom and Dad aren't talking because of the stress of the morning routine. It's a very cold and lonely 10 minute ride to church.

Communicating with your children. The old family would talk to each other because that was all they had known, they didn't know t.v., DVR, computer, internet, cell phones, email, social networks. They had each other. We are too occupied to even take time to listen to our children much less engage in a converation with them. When our children start talking we think to ourselves, "I wonder how I can end this conversation as quickly as possible so I can get back to what I was doing." Families rarely pray together anymore.

There is a lot more to this message than what I wrote but I wanted to get to the point where it really hit home for me.

What am I doing??!! Is what I kept asking myself after church. What am I doing?! I heard very clearly, "What about Facebook? People spend hours on Facebook reading other peoples status's about their life, when really who cares?! Your own family is sitting right there while you're worried about somebody elses."
That message hit hard. I spend WAY too much time on Facebook alone let alone researching certain things that spark my interest. What am I doing? I am ultimately ignoring my family no matter how I try to convince myself otherwise "I'd go insane if it wasn't for FB, it gives me a mommy break" "Being a SAHM, my friends live in the computer" "FB gives me a well needed/deserved break from the mommy world" Although those things may be true, I am letting the most important things in my life slip by. We all say, "where does time go?" "Seems like it was yesterday" "Time flies", I'm going to make a great effort to put my time back into my family. I'm going to make a great effort talking to my children more and then making them feel like they come second to what I'm doing at the moment. I'm going to make an effort in being a FAMILY and acting like a FAMILY..not just people that live under one roof; after this message there IS a difference.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. I have contacted the church to see if I can get the sermon posted on itunes so you can hear it for yourself, it was very moving.