Grace full mama

Hell hath no fury like a teenager whose phone has been repossessed. My husband and I have recently been convicted of the amount of time our kids spend on their phones. The addiction is very real.We have always tried to limit their use, but it seems like it creeps back up. These sites (tik tok, facebook, instagram, youtube) are all targeting their age groups. The thirty second attention span affects everything else. These short videos are talking to my kids more than I am, shaping their thoughts and reactions slowly but surely. It is the phone that is there when they sit down, and rise up. This needs to end.

They do all the things parents are supposed to. They’re always available to listen or talk. They are never too busy to entertain you. My son is taking the loss of this entertainment the hardest. The phone has undoubtedly been filling a void for him. My wonderful husband has stepped up and is making the effort to fill that void with the things that matter. Love, to children, is usually spelled T.I.M.E. It is easy to come up with reasons we don’t have the time, running two businesses and raising a few critters. It takes effort to include the kids in all the things that it would “be easier to do ourselves,” but isn’t that what we are commanded to do? We have made the promise to fill their little hearts with the time, skills, work, and direction to the heart of the Father that they truly need.

Of course, as we are on this journey it is important to look at ourselves. If we are sitting scrolling on our phones rather than engaging them, not only are we robbing them of connection but we are being entirely hypocritical. Very often, screens do not produce good fruit. They are thieves of time and connection. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:12&13 We have been tempted into dissociating and distracting ourselves from anything uncomfortable with our screens. We have allowed easy entertainment that costs us nothing and trains our brains to look for immediate gratification.

Our screens have become tools of the enemy without a doubt. I’m not saying that there is no use for them at all, but so often they draw us away from what really matters. There is an agenda there. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10:21 If we are filling our cup with instant entertainment, we are not waiting on God for connection with him. We are filling a cup made for the finest wine with swamp water.

1 Corinthians 10:23 says All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. I think that is really the crux of it. Even if we don’t see our screen time as being damaging, is it edifying? Is it helpful? Is it the best? Or are we settling for a clever ploy of the enemy to keep us from true connection with our father in heaven, our spouses, our kids, and the body of Christ?

I am going to put the effort into true connection, and avoid the counterfeit!