“Beep, beep, beep… We interrupt this program to bring you special weather announcement. The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the following counties…”
I’m from Kansas. And this little message was heard in our household on a pretty regular basis from the months of March to October. It was old hat to us. We had our routine down.
We would watch the weather, waiting for the radar screen to see just how bad it might get. Once it was confirmed we sprung into action. My sister and brother would barrel out the door to go feed the animals and make sure they have shelter. Mom ran outside to put the cars in the shed, and I usually ended up bringing the laundry in off the line.
It was sweet organized chaos.
In a few short minutes, just as the black clouds rolled in and the huge raindrops started to fall, we would all gather breathlessly back in the house. We made it.
The lightning struck and a few seconds later the thunder rolled. Suddenly, Mom remembered… “GET STUFF UNPLUGGED!” We needed to unplug major appliances, specifically the microwave and the computer.
Maybe you think we were paranoid… but just ask my Mom how many fried desktop computer’s she has been through in recent years. Those puppies aren’t cheap. A simple yank of the cord could prevent our wonderful data storage machine from turning into a large, dusty paperweight.
Source: Las-initially via Flickr
Last week, I was like that computer. God issued the announcement and told me to unplug before I fried myself. So I did.
It. Was. Awesome.
Now, for some of you folks, “unplugged” might not mean anything more to you than a TV show on MTV. But for a girl who spends a majority of her life blogging about Jesus (on a computer), responding to comments (on a computer), working on building a platform via social media (on a computer), unplugging is a big deal.
Brandon and I went on vacation last week. We camped, old school style, tent and all, no air conditioning, in a state park in Florida. We’ve never been there, and Brandon tried to convince me that we needed to take my iPad for navigational assistance.
I refused. Our printer was out of ink, so I hand wrote the mapquest instructions on a notebook sheet of paper. I knew that if I took my iPad, those little red email/Facebook/Twitter notifications would be tempting me all week long.
So I left every piece of technology at home. I even shut my cell phone completely off. (It’s not a smart phone, but unplugging means unplugging.) I checked my phone once a day to make sure everyone was still alive and didn’t reply to a single phone call or text.
Guess what? The sun still rose. Every. Single. Day.
I know I’ve talked about it before, but so many of our every day little things can turn into idols without us even knowing. I personally have to be very, very careful not to let technology/blogging/computeresque things consume my heart.
What seemingly innocent everyday items try to steal your attention from God? Have you “unplugged” recently? How did God move through that? I would love to hear all about it– leave a comment below!
Anywho, the break was great and I’m glad to be back. I could write ten blog posts about the incredible work God did in our lives during our time of being unplugged, regarding our relationship/marriage, grateful hearts and time to rest… But for now, I need to finish this post… And unplug for the rest of the day.
Refreshed not Fried,
SGK
“I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet. That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic.” ~Psalm 27:4-5
