Facebookers Anonymous

Hello. My name is Sydney Drain and I am a Facebook addict.

Step 1 is admitting your problem, right? Well here is my problem: I am completely obsessed with Facebook. It's been easy to justify my addiction by saying that it's such a great tool for staying in touch with people, but in reality that's just another excuse. I have allowed Facebook to hinder me from becoming a better person. It has made me into a busybody, constantly checking up on everyone's status updates and pictures from the latest adventure. It has allowed me to pretend I'm maintaing friendships as long as I post on someone's wall every once in awhile. I've become extremely judgmental (more so than I was to begin with) just by checking out people's pictures and comments.

Worst of all, it has fed my selfish attitude of seeking attention and approval from humanity. I try to think of witty status updates so that I can get a lot of notifications and post tons of silly, pointless pictures so that I will show up on others' newsfeeds. Paul writes in Galatians 1:10, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." I need to spend more time focusing on seeking God's approval, for that is the only thing that will ever truly satisfy me. A compliment can brighten my day and keep me going for a bit, but that will eventually fade. In the end, the only sustaining thing in my life is the knowledge that my Father in heaven loves me deeply and thinks I'm worth saving. Psalm 139:18 says that God's thoughts about me are more numerous than the grains of sand. Can you even imagine that?!

But I have lost sight of that and I know I need to refocus. Therefore, I am saying goodbye to Facebook for the next few months. It is my deepest hope that I will now be challenged to fill my free time in God's presence rather than creeping on profiles. Through that time I pray the Holy Spirit will work in my heart and help me to become a more thoughtful, generous, patient person and will continue to transform me into the likeness of God. Additionally, I am going to work on being a better friend and asking the tough questions rather than settling for shallow conversation. Also, I am hoping that all this time away from the computer will challenge me to plug into some organizations and service groups so that I can give back to my community. And finally, I would like to learn how to stop procrastinating and start getting more done with my life. I waste way too much time every day.

So... there is my reasoning. I'm not expecting anyone else to follow in my footsteps, this is just a personal decision that I feel needs to happen.

I'm excited about what God has in store for this semester, and I'm looking forward to sharing that journey with you.