Chit Chat

How often do you just sit and chat with someone?

Friends, family...

Something that has become so real to me lately is how we have lost the art of chit-chat.

Our world is filled with technology that blows my mind.

We have cell phones to carry around so anyone can get to us anytime, anywhere.

Not to mention how we can get to anything, anytime, anywhere on a cell phone.

We have laptops to carry around so we can do work, check up on friends, check email or just surf the net anytime, anywhere.

We've always had books we can read, now we have Nooks and Kindles that can do so much more than just a book in our hands.

We can listen to podcasts, watch TV shows, Skype...

oh the list goes on and on.

All this technology is amazing, fun and really very cool.  

I like it.

I have a cell phone (blackberry) which does all sorts of things.

I have a laptop.

I have a facebook account.

I have email.

I listen to podcasts.

I read books.

I like technology.

But it also gets in the way.

At the beach, I had some great conversations (chit-chat) with my sister-in-law.

We sat at the pool every afternoon and just talked.

About parenting, friends, work, family and just stuff.

Not all of our conversation was deep and moving.

But we connected.  On a level that doesn't happen with technology.

Every afternoon, my sister-in-law took her book to the pool with her.

One day I apologized for keeping her away from reading her book.

I knew she was getting to the end and really wanted to finish it.

She said it wasn't that important. She was enjoying talking and hanging out.

How often do you just hang out?

It often seems that anytime there is extra time, we have our faces in our computer, we are searching the internet on our phones, checking email, listening to podcasts, connecting with friends, reading our books.

It makes me sad.  

The time we have here on this earth is too short.  

When I am with friends or family,

I want to put away my phone,

close my laptop,

put my book on the shelf,

and just be together.

What would it really be like to spend a weekend or a week 

with family and not take your laptop or leave your phone off or not take a book to read?

Instead, fill the extra time with talking, connecting, walking, praying?

It's a challenge I want to live.

Dear Jesus, convict my heart when it comes to the time I spend around my family and friends.  Help me to put all that stuff away and focus on the relationships in my life - talking with my husband, laughing with my friends, catching up with my family, playing with my kids...

Don't let me give in to the easy route when it comes to filling up the time I have.

May I enjoy what technology brings to my life,

but may it never replace relationships in my life.

Amen