Life Lessons | Ecclesiastes 3:1

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven."

I know we are not to compare ourselves with anyone, but I often look to my mother and her example as a wonderful standard to hold myself up to.

And there are so many times when I cannot figure out how she managed to do everything she did with half the "conveniences" that I have.

Then I look at my conveniences and realize that my mother accomplished so much because she did not have them.

Cell phone- She didn't have one while I was growing up, and once I was in college we had a family cell phone that the one who would be furthest away from home got to use. And guess what! You could only make phone calls with it!

Now I have a cell phone (not a smart phone) with unlimited minutes, a small data plan, and unlimited texting. And my husband is ready to throw it out the window. Why? Because it is a constant  interruption. It interrupts me during school time, housework, family time, grocery shopping, and dates (we need the phone for contact with the kids). Nowadays, we can never just get away.

And of course, my nature is to deal with the urgent. And all of those little interruptions appear to be the urgent, but they are not the most important things that need to command my time.

I have realized that the uninterrupted time that my mother gave our home and me is nonexistent in my home because of my cell phone.

Computer and Internet- Mom did not have Face book, Pinterest, blogs, email, and a whole host of other websites to occupy her time. Now don't get me wrong. All of these sites are good in their own ways and are quite helpful in keeping up with our loved ones, getting ideas for our families, etc., but they can take up so much of our time.

Maybe you are feeling the same way.

I look at my two little ones and I envision them in the future remembering me with some kind of technological attachment. My one year old already turns his toys into cell phones and walks around talking. I don't want that.

I want them to think of me as very present. On the floor playing. At the table coloring. Outside running. 

I had a great chat with my friend, Kristi, a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about this very subject. It has really been eating away me ever since.

So what am I gong to do about it?

"There is an appointed time for everything....."

I am going to plan some computer time in my day (early in the morning, when it will not interfere with my children's time or my husband's time) check my mail, blog, catch up on FB, and then shut it off. I'll respond to texts when I am not spending time with my family or if I have a spare moment. I will take calls when I am available to do so.

I have to remind myself that there was a time that if you were out of the house, no one could contact you. And we all survived!

There was a time when information was not at our fingertips. And we all survived!

If I do not put my family before the seemingly urgent, no one else will. And I don't want to give away anymore of my time with them to the things that don't matter.