gagets and thingamabobs, taking over our lives one piece at a time...

My Mom and I were talking a while back about the internet. 

Don't worry, we are not banning it. trust me my husband wouldn't let me lol. 

He would go through borderlands and minecraft withdrawals, since he gets on his Xbox and computer and plays with his friends. :) 

Anyway, we were talking about how the internet has taken over every corner of our lives. 

We are on the internet constantly. we can even get internet on our phones,

(even without smart phone capability.) Just have them send a message in txt form. 

Our lives are permeated with it.

I was watching TV the other day, and a quote from the show sums it up.

 these kids had the internet taken away until, they learned to use it properly, 

A girl spoke up and said "I read on the internet one time, that kids used to do stuff without the internet."

And its true, today's children do not know how to do anything without computers, cell phones or electronic devices. 

When I was growing up, I watched a lot of TV  Much of my generation did. That is what we did for fun, Now I played outside as well, But a good portion of my time, was spent watching TV. I would get home from school and I would go straight for the tv. 

A tv commercial cracks my husband and I up, It's for a car, but holds such relevance for this.

The thing about it, is that, while she was sitting there at the computer her
parents were out enjoying themselves. and that is how today's generation are,
they would rather, "socialize" on face book then get out and enjoy their friends in real life.
I ran across an article today  about internet fasting and thought I would share as well.
click the picture below to go to the link. :)

 I had the great Blessing, when I was 13 of moving to the woods with no power and water. 

The only thing we had was a battery operated radio. 

We lived that way for about two years.

We hadn't set out to "rough it" so to speak, It wasn't necessarily that we made a decision 

to go without TV or such.

The simple reason we lived for two years without it, was that the price to bring the electric poles was something we could not afford after buying the property.

It wasn't that it was right there, it was I'm going to say a mile, or 2 to get it back. that's expensive when one person is paying, or even three. We had split the property, (20 acres) with my Aunt and uncle and family, and my grandparents. 

So we just lived without it, until we could afford to get electricity...We didn't completely go without TV  or movies, we had a generator, still gas was expensive, to just toss it away on a simple two hours, every day.

So, it was reserved for when we need the light at night, (Dad working on a car or running power tools for building.) Or, the occasional birthday or a special occasion. 

Instead  We listened to the radio.
Music, while we were cleaning, or such, and in the evenings
our local radio station aired Adventures in Odyssey
a christian children's program (which, I still listen to once in a while, when I can catch it.)
We would listen almost every night. We loved it.
Mom also  bought us a dramatized version of Pilgrims Progress.
I can still remember sewing yo-yos while listening. :)
Then some of my favorite memories of those two years, was my mom reading to us.
We would get a chapter book, usually a classic and we would spend the evening
 reading a few chapters of the book as a family. Some of the most memorable were:
Treasure Island, Huckleberry Fynn, and Jack London's Call of the wild.
It got to the point where we would all look forward to it.
All of us, even Dad would sit in our spots and listen to mom read,
I, many times did my hand sewing when mom was reading.
It was enjoyable and brought us together as a family.
And... we played outside. (Us, kids)
We read books, built forts and went hiking, swimming, and exploring.
and in the winter we went sledding, snowboarding,
 (not me don't have the coordination...lol.) had snow ball fights
and even a few times went "hooding"
It wasn't about about learning something (although we did.)
And, it wasn't about filling up the time  (we did that too.) 
or even about  Becoming closer as a family  (And, Yes This was accomplished.)
It was about having fun and enjoying each other.
It was about making due with what we had, learning to be content with little
and just Enjoying life and being happy with what God gave you.
 We didn't set out to discover that, but somewhere along the way it discovered us.
You know, after we got the electricity back, it wasn't the same,
we began to be super busy with our own lives and
that sense of enjoying the simple things somewhere in all the noise
 and confusion of an electronic, "internet connected, and busy world, 
It vanished.

So, pick up that book, yes, even on a kindle and read.
grab one of your children's books or even one of the classics
and read together.
Grab your tennis shoes and go for walk, get out and see the glory 
of Gods beautiful reation, change with each season. 
Go build a fort with your kids, even with blankets. 
Turn the tv off and sit down to a family dinner. 
You won't regret it, because
 before you know it, those sweet little ones, 
will be grown and off  raising a family of their own.