My world has been devoid of Facebook for 24 days, and I can honestly say that I only miss it slightly. What humors me (and frightens at the same time), is that I consistently find myself thinking in status updates. Lacking a place to deposit them, I’ve come to terms with the fact that if I think in status updates on a regular basis, I probably needed the “break” more than I realized.

When it comes down to it, Facebook connects me to a world of adults I would otherwise have little contact with on a daily basis. Status updates, I’m fairly certain, are a stay-at-home mom’s way of knowing someone else is out there, relating to the latest nap frustration or diaper snafu. It’s not the only way we connect, of course, but it’s the most accessible between playtimes and feedings, household chores and mommy demands. I never imagined it would become such a community, nor did I imagine it would turn into the “fluff” of life–so easily accessible from my phone, whenever there was a break in the action.

What on earth did we ever used to do with our down time? 😉

I know it would be rash to delete my FB account entirely at the end of this Lenten season, but it’s somewhat temping when I consider how much else I’ve done, read, rested, researched and reflected since the fast began. I have been missing birthdays left and right, which makes me feel like a bad friend, and on multiple occasions now, I’ve missed the latest viral fill-in-the-blank due to my absence. Gasp! I am so out of touch. Henry may one day be mortified to know how very “in the dark” I’ve become.

To live without the book of faces feels oddly primitive. Kind of a turning back of time in my life to a place where I once had whole minutes or hours to devour a good book or to go to bed before the wee hours crept along. And yet, here I am, and I’m thankful for it. I needed the discipline for a bit, and I still need it for the next few weeks. I’m hoping that by then, FB and I will have gone to our corners–and that we’ll be able to renegotiate on more reasonable terms. How did we ever get here in the first place? Sometimes (ok, a lot of the time) the world we live in (and the things we/I spend our time doing in it) really scares me.

Thank goodness God honors even the little steps we take. It’s a beautiful thing.

The valuable gem I would have likely shared in that ghostly status window tonight? I just found out, after 8 years of ordering pizza with the man, that my husband orders green peppers over red for the color. Hm. And to think I’ve been ordering green peppers unnecessarily all this time…

There. Now that feels better.

living in a status free state for a while longer,

mm