Small Steps

AKA, that part when I remembered it might be important to read Scripture for my own formation as opposed to (only) ministry… and some other things…  I also remembered some other things…

For years now, I have woken up and checked my phone… my Facebook notifications… my messages… my email…  I have also clicked over to biblegateway.com and read through the daily office… while drinking coffee… often in bed. 

I love social media.  I love how it has leveled the playing field for people like me who don’t have any desire to fight for a platform but who might have something worthwhile to say from time to time.  I love how it allows me to stay connected with everyone I’ve ever met.  If I’m honest, I also love how it validates my greatest joys and biggest fears.  But I’m not sure I love it so much that I want a cold, hard screen to be the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I close my eyes in sleep.

I’m never going to be a proponent of hands free living.  Even in the midst of wondering what a life less directed by social media might look like; I set up new accounts—more of them!  But I am also serious about discerning which blocks of my time should belong to the Internet and which should… not…

Shameless plugs, you can now follow me on Twitter: l_michaels_2018 and on Instagram: lisaannemichaels

So I did some weird stuff…

I ordered a new hard copy Bible, because I want to read the daily office for the sole purpose of reading the daily office, before I ever begin to type whatever insights it brings to me for this blog.  I want to mark it up with all kinds of messy color spurting from pens and highlighters and leaving globs of ink in places I intended and in places I did not.  I want to look back over it all at the end of the year and see what things God speaks into my heart for this time and place.  And because Amazon Prime is getting slower… and because almost every page of Scripture I own is at the office as opposed to in my bedroom (and I’m on vacation)… and because the family Bible—yellowed, seriously turning to dust, and translated KJV was the only option I had at my fingertips, this morning; I hefted it into my arms and ended up with a pretty good memory of my heritage.  I loved this, but I do still hope a mail truck appears soon…

I also pulled out an alarm clock…  you know, one of those contraptions that has a clock and some buttons and forces you to wake up at a specific time without also reminding you of messages that should be answered, calls that must be made, and pictures of midnight snacks three of your on-line friends ate just hours ago.  Because here’s the truth:  I wake up to check the time at often very regular intervals, all night long, and when I do this, I also tend to check in on the virtual world.  But unless you’re in the midst of an emergency, I actually don’t need to know what you’re doing at 3am…  In fact, why are you still up?  The alarm clock is going to solve this issue for me, at least in theory, because it will allow me to turn off my phone when I go to bed and still arrive where I belong the following morning!

These are small steps to healthier rhythms.  And that’s what I have the energy for right now…  small steps…

L.