Do you have a time period built into your day for quiet?
I am not talking about video games, phone time, or TV time.
I am talking about a time of quiet with no technology.
I am talking about creating a space where you have to think about what to do.
I've noticed we have become reliant on our technology to fill the gaps, dadgummit.
Mindless time wasting is the golden calf we worship.
God hates our idolatry and we whiz right along on the path to death with no regard to our sin.
It almost sounds ridiculous to me that establishing a quiet time in our home has been hard for me, but it has.
When I hear older women exhort us younger moms to carve out "quiet hours" it sure sounds like something that would enrich our days. Mentally I am on board with the idea. In the early days when my house was filled with nappers I was on board. Somehow my daytime nappers grew up. Somewhere in the process I avoided cultivating quiet time as they grew older.
There will be pushback and I don't want to deal with it so I foolishly turn a blind eye. I tell them with my actions that we don't have to cultivate the hard things, that it is OK to fill the gaps with idol worship.
I do not want to be a woman who cowers away from what I believe will be the best because I am running from the pushback.
I don't want my children to be reliant on technology to fill the quiet spaces.
It is a shiny trap laid by the enemy that seduces far too many of us and paralyzes the fruit that could be coming from our days. A swipe of the finger is robbing our days, snatching away the legacy we could be leaving.
The first time I implemented quiet hours with my older children (read: this afternoon) it was borderline comical. They moped around like they had just lost their best friend (read: Minecraft). Mommy, mommy, mommy...I became the star of the show. One kiddo sat in the chair across from me chewing his gum, rocking and just looking at me to pass the time. What the??? And I'm nothing to look at today with my no showered crazy haired self. Geesh. He'll figure it out though, they all will.
What am I giving them if their only option during free time is dependent on something that plugs in?
This, by the way, this idea of unplugging a bit each and every day, is not a gift they are going to thank us for anytime soon. Naw. They are going to give us the business about it. They are going to moan about it. Today it was enough to drive me to a can of Dr. Pepper and some tater chips. They're smart though, they'll figure it out.
Give those kids of yours space to have to figure things out. In my next post I will give ideas on setting a feast for them to pull from. Until then, consider this.
Is there a period of time you could carve out daily for some technology free quiet time? Don't rob those kiddos of yours of this irreplaceable gift.
