Hi, my name is Amy, and I am a phone-a-holic. I\u2019m in recovery, of course, but I\u2019m still an addict. I likely always will be. There\u2019s the withdrawal, the shakes, the muscle memory that keeps me reaching for my phone in my pocket when it isn\u2019t there because I put it on the countertop during dinner. There\u2019s a part of me that will always try to feed myself with whatever I can find behind that phone screen. They say old habits die hard, and I\u2019m here to tell you that, in this case, they\u2019re right. It\u2019s really hard to let go of something that makes you feel so connected. It\u2019s even harder when you don\u2019t realize that something is actually disconnecting you from your actual life. From the people right in front of your face. From your own agency. From your soul. From Jesus.<\/p>\n
My desperate desire for connection to my phone was so bad, I found myself searching for my phone on the way to take a shower. Yes, that\u2019s right, I needed to take it with me . . . into the shower. Who does that? Somehow, I had gotten to a point where I couldn\u2019t be left totally alone to connect with my own thoughts in the quiet of the shower.<\/p>\n
See what I mean by addict?<\/p>\n
Enough was enough. I was tired of bowing to my phone. Of needing it like I needed water, or air, or food (or apparently, a shower). I was done with letting this little rectangle tell me what I ought to think about. With letting this little device steal my agency, my time, and my creativity. In one handheld smartphone, I was looking for every kind of connection I could find.<\/p>\n
But when I put it down at the end of the day? When I let my head hit the pillow and my phone was safely charging on the nightstand? Well, friend, I was still starving.<\/p>\n
Starving for time with my family.<\/p>\n
Starving for authentic and real-life community.<\/p>\n
Starving for the kind of connection to God and the people He put in my path that would actually leave me satisfied for the long haul.<\/p>\n
Maybe you\u2019ve been there, too. Maybe you\u2019ve been grabbing on to your phone for dear life, looking to connect with information, with news, with online shopping, with text messages, with emails, with lives on social media. And maybe, like me, you\u2019re still starving. Maybe you need to be empowered to let go. To change. To make a switch to your spiritual diet.<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s you, then let me bless you with this hard-learned lesson from my own life: you won\u2019t find what you\u2019re looking for behind the screen of your smartphone. You can keep scrolling, keep texting, keep posting, and you\u2019ll still be starving for the real, lasting connection you hope to find there.<\/p>\n\n\t\t