Managing Life in Two Worlds

This all happened so slowly, that I didn't even realize it. It started with the purchase of this box-like contraption and just a few hours of typing out letters to a friend, playing a couple of silly little games and doing a Language Arts program. Even then, it was new, exciting and took up a lot of spare time. Now we've graduated to a "nicer" box, with the world at one's finger tip in just one click. We can talk to friends we haven't seen in years, see photos, hear about adventures and watch entire movies in this new world. Yep. I'm talking about the Cyber-World. It has many advantages, but it also has it's temptations.

I remember being little and playing outside all the time. My best friend, Erin and my sister and I would go into the woods, use our imaginations and not return until we had to. Our parents didn't really worry about us. We were safer, or it seemed so, then. That was just 10 years ago. The internet has brought its' dangers and people are able to access other people and their whereabouts more easily. It's a scary thought.

But there is an even scarier one. This incredible invention can be addicting. It is near impossible to spend a half an hour on the computer. Most people spend an entire day- they just leave their computer on and go back and forth between it and the real world. What if they stop going back and forth? Sometimes I sit down to the computer and check my facebook or blog or search for something I had a question about and by the time I click the little "x" in the corner, I realize that I've spent a couple of hours in this same spot. It was so easy.

With my propensity to be lazy, I'm trying to moderate the time that I spend at the computer. It may start out innocently enough, but then it comes down to just wasting time. And that's bad- time is precious and we are only allotted so much of it. I want to spend a little time on the computer. Enough to bless others I can't see everyday, but not enough to keep me from blessing the people I do see daily. I don't want to get trapped in this cyber-world. I want to still get the fresh air, exercise and real life experiences, before the opportunities to glorify God pass me by.

To those of you starting to delve into the world of the web, don't get tangled up in it so that you are caught and slowly let your life ebb away from you. Practice self-control and be watchful- satan could use a good thing to lead you away from the better things God has for you. I'm not saying give up your Internet, just be sober and intentional about it! This is all advice to remind me of what I need to do, as well! Keep on the lookout....

..... don't let satan catch you sleeping!