Time in the Social Media World is Time I’m Not in Their World
Today’s article is for me. It is about me, and it is to me. If you get anything out of it, that’s just a bonus. It is an article that had been bouncing around my mind for a little while, then two statements on the same day basically forced me to write it.
The first conversation happened just after worship Sunday morning. We got home and Leah was finishing up lunch. The kids were each playing with little toys the floor of the living room and I was tired from teaching and preaching. But, with this article bouncing around my head, I got in the floor and played just for a few minutes. While Leah waited on something to finish in the kitchen, she came in and sat and laughed, too. Turner–about to be 11-years-old–said, “It’s been so long since we just were all in here like this.”
Ouch.
Then, about two hours later, Mary Carol said something, but it was obvious that something deeper was on her mind. She, Leah, and I went to the living room and sat down. We talked for probably 30 minutes about an issue that was on her little heart and was really bothering her. As it became clear that the conversation was winding down, I tried to reassure her and I said that she can always tell us what’s on her heart, even if she thinks it will hurt our feelings. In her 12-year-old way, she hugged me and said, “Thanks for listening to me.”
Wow.
Now, this article isn’t just a reminder to myself to spend more time with my kids. I hope I know that!
Here’s where my mind has been lately, and these conversations only caused me to think more deeply about it: every moment I spend in everyone else’s world on social media is one less moment I get to spend in the world of my kids. Had I been on Facebook or Instagram, neither of those scenarios would have played out, and my kids would have felt–again–as if some else’s world is more important than theirs.
Don’t get me wrong: social media isn’t a sin. (In fact, I hope you’ll share this article on social media! haha) The point is not whether social media is right or wrong. I enjoy (usually) scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I like seeing pictures of baptisms, new babies, and fun things other people are doing. It makes me happy, mostly because a huge number of the people I am friends with on social media are good people who do good things. It provides encouragement and a few smiles.
That said, those other people are not my priority, nor should they be!
How often have my children had to wait for me to read a book to them or play with them because I was engrossed in someone else’s world, and possibly a person I will never meet? How often have my kids felt like they played second fiddle to someone who doesn’t even live nearby or who I only somewhat know?
I know I will fail at this–far too often, to be sure–but I am going to do better. My son needs to be helping me with projects around the house and I need to be playing his silly little games. My daughter needs me to read to her and go on walks with her. My family needs to have more Bible times, more game nights, and more projects.
…and they need those things to happen without me constantly checking social media, or cutting the activities short because my attention is in the social media world.
In just about 6 years, my daughter will be a high school graduate. Another year beyond that, my son will be.
What then? Will it really matter that I knew what was happening in everyone else’s world, in real time, every minute of the day?
Or will it matter that dad was there, in their world, showing them love and discipline?
The answer is too obvious. Now it’s time for me to go live it.
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
