Why I'm Leaving FB in 2013

So, I figured I'd take a few minutes just to put into words exactly why I feel so convicted to leave facebook in 2013.

There are a number of reasons and this isn't something I just woke up and decided to do. This is something I have been feeling like I should do for a long time. I've given it up here and there for a week or a month and during those times, I've been so very productive and truly don't miss it at all. In July, during the National Christian Convention I really felt the strong pull to get off, but I came up with a million reasons why I shouldn't (that my friends is called rationalization, we learned a lot about that in youth group when we were teenagers).

I'm not saying that facebook is evil or that you should leave it because I am. In fact, I know there are a lot of great benefits to having it. It's a great way to keep up with friends and family who live far away, a way to get ahold of people quickly or invite them to a party. In our home, we've even used it as a way to sell/give things away or to see if anyone is selling/giving away something we're looking for. My husband uses it to reach the youth and even the parents at our church. facebook can be used as a great tool, I won't deny that, but I will say that it can also be used to boast, to share things that are inappropriate, to make people feel left out (on purpose or not), and it really almost encourages us to compare ourselves to everyone else. I'd be lying too if I didn't mention that facebook is a way for us all to see what people from our past are up to and sometimes (if you're like me), to make yourself feel really good about where you are in your life and where they are not in theirs. Somehow it makes you feel justified for the past or like you came out on top. It's kind of sad actually, but I think if we got really honest with ourselves we'd all admit we've let our thoughts go there to there a time or two and frankly, I don't want to be that kind of person!

At the top of the list for me, it is just a complete time waster! It's easy to get on just to check a message or post a quick picture and then realize 45 minutes later that you haven't even done what you originally got on to do in the first place. As a pastor's wife and mother of two children under 5 with one on the way, time is precious, so very precious.

This is the year for me to stop talking about how much closer I'm going to get with God, how much more scripture I'm going to read and memorize, how awesome I'm going to be as a homemaker, how much more organized and full of fun lessons for our children I'll become and to finally just do it without the distractions! The best part is that it will be between me and God and my family and my best friend who I really and truly do life with. It's not about being awesome and posting it all over facebook. It's about being who God called me to be to the fullest and closing my eyes at the end of the day knowing that He is saying well done, Amanda, or good try today you'll do better tomorrow. I don't need the approval of my facebook friends and family to make me feel good or posts from other facebook friends to make me feel bad or not good enough.

I'm clinging to this passage from Matthew 6: 3-4 (The Message translation),

When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure --'playactors'-- I call them -- treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it -- quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scene, helps you out. 

I love this. It's not about doing and sharing it with the world constantly. It's about sharing and doing for the world (or in this case my family) and knowing that this kind of doing becomes contagious. The kind of doing that is done just because, not because of who is watching. I'll still keep my blog to express how I'm feeling, but that's for me, because writing is something I enjoy and a way for me to have memories in print. It's also to encourage. Not to make anyone feel less about themselves or to brag about anything I am doing because trust in me, if I do something great, it's God working through me, not anything I did. He is the good in me!

2013 is a big year for our family. A new baby is coming in May or June. We'll start homeschooling in the Fall. Even with all of these awesome additions coming our way, I feel less overwhelmed then ever. I have a peace about this year. It's the year for me to cut out the distractions and focus on what really matters or as another wiser mommy has told me, "anything with a heartbeat."


Cheers to a new year!


My facebook will still be active in 2013. There are lots of pictures I need to get off of there and my husband may tag me in a post or two when our new baby comes or maybe even share a blog post with pictures of our growing family. He'll keep an eye on it too, make sure no one hacks or posts something yucky on there, but I will not be on it. Who knows if I'll be back in 2014, but as for 2013, I'm out!