As the mother of a teen dialed into text messaging, IMing and Facebooking, I find myself worried, concerned and sometimes mad about all the technology that seems to disconnect my teen as effectively as it seems to connect her.
Recently I expressed my concerns about the disconnect with the person right next to her as she connected to another person through texting.
In Tyranny of the Urgent, Charles Hummel talks about how the telephone invades the walls of our homes creating an urgent demand for our attention, crowding out the important things we may be doing or need to be doing.
The walls of our home being invaded by the phone...I must admit I sometimes long for the days when that was the only place the phone rang. Don't get me wrong, I love that I can be reached for an emergency, that my kids can let me know they have safely arrived, that texting keeps even me in touch with a friend, sisters, and my kids. The problem is I don't always exercise the discipline of even pausing to consider, is this urgent or important? Most times I just pick up the phone.
Such was the case as I drove the other day with my youngest daughter. My phone rang and it was my sister, I love talking with my sister so I took the call. The problem was my daughter sat next to me, disconnected, as I connected to my sister.
The important sat alone, as I met an urgent desire to answer the phone. I disconnected from the person next to me...it was sounding uncomfortably familiar.
I realized then that the very thing that I do not want my teen daughter doing, I do. (Romans 7:15-20)What am I modeling?! Can I really ask my kids to do something that I myself do not do? So I have made a committment to not talk on my cell when they are in the vehicle with me. It is a starting point for me to have eyes to see that the urgent has been crowding out the important too much. In this time of instant everything I seem to be getting less done. I need to pull back for perspective and get the important in front of the urgent. I need to believe in and model what I say I value as important.
good article.
Posted by: elsewyoung | March 29, 2011 at 03:12 AM
I'm going home tonight to take a pick, i'm very excited about this (clearly you see how sad and crazy i am about shoes.) Will post the picture
Posted by: Moncler Doudoune | November 05, 2011 at 06:53 PM