Minus 10 Tech Filled Evenings

The cell phone bill came the other day. No big surprise - I've got everything "unlimited" so it's pretty much the same fee every month. But this time I looked at the detail.

My fourteen year old daughter made 5,547 text messages this past month. That's about 185 text messages per day. That, my friends, is way too many.

I quickly reviewed my usage: 298 texts (not bad), but, based on my call usage, the actual amount of time I spent talking was probably the reason why the text messages were so low. I thought about when I use my cell phone... mostly in the car, coming and going, dropping kids off here and there. And it hit me: here I am in a car with my children and I'm talking to someone else. As if they weren't all that important to me. Which reminded me of how I feel when I snuggle up close to Matt to watch a movie on TV and his phone rings. And he answers it. And he talks to someone else about some unimportant-to-me college basketball game. And I feel unimportant-to-him.

Here we are, surrounded by people we can interact with - that we should interact with - and yet we're on some sort of quest to find a voice on the other end of that cell phone or tapping on a keyboard hoping for a thrilling IM conversation to fill the time.

The challenge this month will be this: 10 Tech Free Evenings. Unplug the cell phone. Turn off the computer. Vow not to text, type or talk to anyone not physically in the same space as you. Got a quick question for your sister asking what church she reccomends with excellent youth ministry programs? Write a quick note to call and ask tomorrow. Suddenly remember the adorable to-do list your youngest wrote and how she included "tell grandma I love her" -- make a note to call grandma after you drop the kids off at school.

Get to learn the people in your home again. Be an example to your children about how to hold a conversation. How to listen. How to make someone you care about feel important. When your spouse is talking to you and your phone rings, hit ignore and say, "I'd rather keep talking with you."