Distratctions

Camping is peace for my soul. The trailer is my sanctuary. There are few distractions, when you have no computer, internet, cable TV, Wii... you slow down and concentrate on what is most important in your life. You put together puzzles with your kids, you color, you go on walks in the cold/rain. And my favorite....I get to snuggle with my hubby once the kids go to bed.

Last week while waiting for Jilli's dance class to end, there was a few of us Mom's talking. One of the ladies made a comment that really struck me. I hadn't really thought much of it, but it is so true. She said the internet is tearing families apart. Now, we all can name certain things ON the internet that are NOT of God. I don't need to spell those out (although a few Mom's had their personal stories about certain subjects that were tearing their families down), but what this certain lady said was it wasn't so much the content of the internet that she had a problem with, but the time it took away from relationships. How true. I can't tell you the last time Kevin and I sat together on the couch without computers on our laps. When was the last time we curled up next to each other and he read the paper and I read a book? When was the last time we watched a movie together? This is a two way street people, I am as much at fault with letting the internet take my time away as Kevin is. It is really amazing to me that I can sit down for just one minute and then an hour later get up. How many nights do I stay up late writing on my lovely blog, only to get mad the next morning when I have to get up and "deal" with my early risers, when it was my fault that I didn't get to bed on time.

We think that this lovely thing called the internet pulls us closer together. We think that we can connect with people so much better. In some ways it is great. I get to journal my life for all of you to read, the good and the bad. It is an "easy" way to communicate. But it is also a HUGE distraction. An addiction of sorts. Something that has to be dealt with carefully. I need to make sure that I am keeping my relationships a priority. I need to make sure that I don't run to the computer first to check to see who emailed me. That I run to my kids for hugs or my husband for a kiss **wink** first. That I make the time to just sit and read. You know, for all the times I say "I just don't have time to study the Bible". What if I took half the time I sit on the computer and gave that to God and read my Bible. Can you imagine what kind of relationship I could have with Him?????

Back to the camping, I love it, I am so sad to see my camping season come to an end, because quite frankly, there are too many distractions here at home that pull me from what is most important. A very good friend of mine said "the question is, what kind of person do you want to be? Now make your decisions based on that." She writes life stories for funeral homes. She said that you can tell the people who really have a legacy of life and love....and you can tell the ones when there just isn't a legacy at all. So to answer my friends question.... I want to be the Psalm 31 women. To do that, it will require to spend less time on the internet and more time in community with the people I love. It will require me to open my Bible, instead of opening my emails. I am not going away, but I am going to make sure that my priorities are where they should be. Making a difference in my home and to my family, not being lost in the addiction of the internet.

I thank God for camping and the peace that it gives me, it is my "happy place" as another friend calls it. It is....I feel so happy when all the technology of this world is not at my finger tips, but my family is. I feel the most free to just be.....be myself, be a mother, be a wife, be a friend. There is a sign that I have seen. "A Family that Camps Together Stays Together" ...I think I need one of those.

Blessings!!