After writing several posts discussing the routines I was establishing, I haven’t written more. Why? Well, we moved, and we don’t currently have Internet. This, of course, makes it harder to keep up with blogging. But that’s not the only reason. I mean, I have written a few posts offline and published them at the library. This one, for example, I’m writing on my iPod during the wee hours, because I can’t sleep and have nothing better to do.

The real reason Is that pregnancy is getting the better of me. I just hit the third trimester, and I’m tired a lot! By the end of the day, I’m dragging most days. I don’t always have the energy to get even my basic routines done. Sometimes my husband will wash the supper dishes and shine my sink for me while I crash on the couch with a book or go to bed early.

However, my routines haven’t gone completely out the window, either. I still lay out my clothes most evenings and get dressed before I start breakfast most mornings. I still swish and swipe every day except Sabbath. I still try to keep my sink shiny as much as possible.

Partly because my energy levels are a tad low, and partly because I have been dealing with pain in my hips that is directly related to the effects of pregnancy on chronic scoliosis, I don’t move very quickly, and sometimes it takes twice as long to get everything done. This doesn’t leave me with much chance to do extra things, like unpacking. But I try. Of course, it doesn’t help that most of the boxes are full of dusty items that give me hay fever, and I can’t take allergy medication while pregnant, so I can’t do a lot of unpacking at a time.

But I do have a daughter who is becoming quite a capable housekeeper. She can was most of the dishes, just not the really heavy ones or the really fragile ones. She can mop the floor on hands and knees. I usually use a damp mop with a handle, but the other day there was something sticky on the floor, and even though I mopped it 3 times, it just wouldn’t go away. So I filled a bucket with soapy water and gave her a rag. She mopped while I took a shower, and when I got back, the floor wasn’t sticky anymore! She likes mopping this way, too; don’t ask me why!

So I’m just trying to cope as well as I can, doing what I can and looking forward to getting my body and energy back later on in the summer. Of course, by then routines will be of utmost importance, so I’m doing my best to maintain the ones I have as well as I can. I also plan on using some of my down time to make my control journal. That way my husband will (I hope) be able to keep things more under control in the first few weeks after the baby arrives.

So instead of continuing my series on routines, I will soon share how I made zones in my house. Because I wasn’t happy with Flylady’s zones, but I liked the idea of zones. I’ll tell you about that soon.

How about you? Have you established any routines? How do you keep up with them when you are sick or pregnant or just don’t feel like it? Please share!

First off, I’m sorry I forgot to insert the linky tool in last week’s post. However, no one even commented, so I guess it wasn’t missed. I have decided to continue this topic, even if no one participates, because I need to do it for me. That said, though, I would love if some of my readers would participate!

Last week my decision was:

I resolve to make a plan for checking email and being online and to claim victory over wasting time online.

Did I make a plan? Yes. Have I gained consistent victory in this area? No. What can I say? It is not easy to change strong habits. However… as I have continued on with the All Power seminar, I got down to days 25-27, where I have been forced (yes, I chose that word on purpose) to look very closely at myself and my priorities and values, and to make some changes. I have spent a lot of spare thinking time (I say thinking time, because my hands have usually been very busy) trying to figure out where certain areas of my life, especially my blogs, fit into what I want out of life. I think I have figured it out–more abstractly than concretely at the moment–and I’ll probably share about it in a future post once it crystallizes better in my mind. All I know is that if I choose to live by my list of Ultimate End Values that I made yesterday, I will be spending less time in general on the Internet and in particular less time on this blog.

Here is my plan, however, for what it’s worth: I have decided to set certain time frames for being online. These are scheduled into my day, just like other activities like time with God and eating. However, because Internet has lower priority than other things like home and husband and children, the demands of home and husband and children may at times supersede my need to get online, and I may have to forgo time online.

What I do online is going to change somewhat. My list of end values is going to change my focus of activities. For instance, at this point in time financial security is going to have to take precedence over community, especially because my husband is going back to school and my son has expensive health issues. So if I have to choose between writing a post on some helpful cleaning tip for this blog and posting a couple of items on eBay, I’ll choose eBay. I know this could affect my blog in many ways, but I have decided that having lots of readers is not important anymore. I want to share more about who I am and less about what I know here.

I have also decided that I cannot make 5 decisions a week. I just don’t have it in me to focus on that many things right now. So I have made two. Here is one of them:

I determine to make my relationship with God the #1 priority in my life.

I have said that it is, but I have not practiced it. Now I am going to do it. Even if I have to get up early, miss out on sleep, etc. My physical health is not as important as my relationship with God. That said, I believe that getting this in place will make the rest of life fall into place. After all, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

So what decision are you making this week? Please use the linky widget below, or post about it in the comments. Read this for more information on how this link-up is supposed to work.

Last week I made this decision:

I am choosing not to be frustrated by my children. Instead, I will model love, understanding, and patience.

That is quite a decision. I can’t say that I always modeled it perfectly. However, I did have many instances where this decision impacted the way I related to my children. I found myself pausing to remember that my children are precious but not perfect, and that many times I was the cause of the behavior  that I found so frustrating.

Choosing to model love, understanding, and patience instead of becoming frustrated was very freeing also. I was freed from the guilt that my frustration would inevitably bring in its train. This freedom brought peace to our home. My children became more cheerful and contented.

Like I said, I wasn’t perfect. I failed a few times. But I remembered my decision in the midst of failure, and chose to repent and ask forgiveness even of my children, then move on to correct the wrong done.

This is definitely something I want to continue to practice until it becomes a habit!

Here is my decision for next week:

I resolve to make a plan for checking email and being online and to claim victory over wasting time online.

This is a big one for me lately, especially since I have an iPod. I will share with you the plan I formulated and how it worked next Monday.

Now it’s your turn. What decision are you making this week? If you made one last week, share how it affected you and those around you? You can link to a post about it, or just share in the comments below. Here is more information on how the link-up works.

By decatur library on Flickr

During my mom’s last visit here, we decided to take a few hours and go shopping on Monday while my husband worked (instead of Sunday like I normally do). We had several stops to make, and were looking forward to getting a lot of things done.

The trouble began at our first stop. Mom had to go to the bathroom, and just as she came back and found us, she remembered that she had not picked up her purse on the way out. She rushed back, but it was gone.

Thankfully, she uses a wallet–the size that holds her checkbook–so she didn’t lose everything most women would lose when they lose their purse. Her keys and cellphone were in her pocket. The only important things were her checkbook, debit card, and license. She wasn’t carrying a credit card in her purse.

The next blessing was that she had a GPS in the car, and it informed her that her bank was only one mile down the road. So we went there to get things straighened out on that end and get some cash. By this time it was lunch time, so we ate and then went to the mall to buy her another purse. The library was behind the mall, so we went there next to find out how to get her a new Idaho drive’s license.

I figured it would take only a few minutes to find the information we needed. With my iPod, I wouldn’t need to wait for Internet access.

Or so I thought.

For some reason, the wireless wasn’t working–and the guy who was in charge of it was out to lunch. When I tried to get a computer, I found out there was an hour and a half wait time. Nobody told me how the express computers worked. I didn’t know the wait time for them was much shorter, if there was any weight time. While I was trying to figure out what I could do, another patron misunderstood me, and started to give me a lecture about waiting my turn “like everyone else”. I tried to explain my situation–that I shouldn’t have to wait since I had my own wifi access device–but she wasn’t listening.

I was tempted to get frustrated at her, but then I realized, she just doesn’t understand. I wasn’t trying to cut in front of other customers, just trying to find some WiFi. Her misunderstanding was getting her all worked up. It didn’t have to get me all worked up too. So I quickly gave up trying to explain things to her, and went to ask the librarian where I should wait for the tech guy to get back from lunch. She pointed to his desk and was about to walk me over there, when the irritated lady got her attention and began to try to explain why I should have to wait like everyone else.

Letting her have her say, I went over to a different librarian, told her the WiFI wasn’t working, and asked if there were any other hot spots nearby. She said I could try Barnes & Noble. I thanked her and headed over there. After all, it was just on the other side of the mall from where we were (practically in the mall’s back parking lot). So we drove around and I went inside and got signal instantly. There I found out that getting a new Idaho license when out of state was as simple as faxing in a form with a temporary address to send the new license to. So off we went to the library to print out the form. Which, of course, would require a computer connected to a printer.

This time, though, I wasn’t in a hurry. If there was an hour and a half wait, I would just sign up and then go off and do my thing until it was time for me, then go and get it done. But then when I explained what I wanted to do, I was informed that I could use one of the express computers, and in fact one was available right then! So I was able to get on right away; 5 minutes and 10 cents later, I had the form printed, ready for my mom to fill out and fax. We found a store to fax it at nearby, and she got her license a couple of days later by FedEx.

Looking back on it, I realized that it was better to be misunderstood than to get into an argument. Arguing with that lady would have just wasted my time and brought my stress levels up. By choosing to be calm and let it go, I was able to keep my focus on finding a solution.

Jesus was one of the most misunderstood people on earth, yet He didn’t let it affect His life. Sure, it hurt. But He rose above the hurt of misunderstanding and focused on His goals. He is our Example, and I am thankful that I had a chance to imitate Him in this small way.

Yesterday I shared some of the things I did to fortify myself against failure in the Christian walk. Besides making the obvious commitment to daily Bible study and prayer, I chose a prayer/accountability partner to encourage and pray for me, and to help keep me accountable in certain areas. I feel this is important because, as I shared, sin thrives in darkness and concealment, but loses much of it’s power in the light (See John 3:19, 20).

Today I want to share how the Lord took me deeper. You see, it was good that I stopped resisting Him. But just saying “Lord, take my life” is not enough. There must be a continual surrender to God’s will. Here is where my past failures came from. I would say, “Lord, take my heart.” But then when He would ask me to give up some cherished idol, I would resist. And that resistance would sooner or later separate me from God.

So within a day of my initial surrender, I began to sense the Lord asking me to lay some things on the altar. Things like how much time I spend on the internet. (Yes, with it in the house, and especially with the iPod, it is a very real and powerful temptation again.)

So I asked my prayer partner to help keep me accountable and pray for me in this area.

Next I realized that I had let my eBay business take over my life. I needed to spend less time on it and more time working with my children. So I laid that on the altar as well.

Now don’t get me wrong. I still struggle with my time online and to an extent with eBay (some days it is more of a challenge than others); but I am trying to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s call to my heart, telling me when I’ve done enough or need to do something else. It’s nice to be able to make some spending money, but I cannot let the love of money (or even the need for it) control me.

Another area, related to the one, is the issue of how I use my spare time. I am beginning to realize that how we use our spare moments says a lot about who we are.

There is this blog that I was reading. It was funny and mostly harmless, but I had become somewhat obsessed with it. I wanted to read all the archives (over 2 years’ worth of almost daily posts), and had only a few months’ worth to go when the Lord brought it up to me. He pointed out that not only was I not learning anything of eternal value there, but it occasionally had content that was not really appropriate for a Christian to view–content that I would be embarrassed to be caught viewing if Jesus were to walk into the room. Since I had so few posts left (relatively speaking) to finish it, at first I thought I would just look at a post here and there in my spare time. But I began to see the negative effect of even moderate viewing (as opposed to sitting down for an hour to read a couple months’ worth, like I had done), and the Lord called to my heart again.

This time He asked me to surrender the whole blog, to be willing never to go there again. And at the same time, He also asked me not to check my email every time I had a spare moment–or my texting program, or whatever other little innocent thing that I might do with my iPod when I had a few moments to myself. Not that I could never use a spare moment to check my email, but I realized that I needed to try to use the majority of them for something of more eternal value. Like read a Bible promise, or take a moment to pray for someone or something, or read a couple of paragraphs from an inspirational book. So I surrendered the blog and the use of my spare time. And I have found that doing this has led me to love the things of the Lord more. It also is helpful to keep my mind focused on the Lord, and to make up for a not-as-long-as-I-would-have-liked quiet time in the morning. And I don’t miss that blog. Not one bit. I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

One side benefit (if you could call it that) of guarding my spare moments has been an increased sensitivity to the Spirit’s voice speaking to my conscience. As I open my heart up to God, inviting Him into more and more of my day, I begin to hear Him speaking to me in a very personal way. For instance, the other night I was typing this very post on my iPod, and when the time came to turn it off and go to bed, there was a temptation to just keep going with it under the covers, where it wouldn’t bother my husband. After all, I was doing something spiritual, not just reading stories like I had done in the past (yes, under the covers, late into the night, I am ashamed to say). But the Lord called to my conscience. He reminded me that even a good thing late at night was a bad thing. And He asked me to surrender and leave the iPod on the nightstand. I surrendered. And even though I didn’t get to sleep for at least an hour, I stayed firm to my resolve, and I didn’t regret it. I knew I would be able to pick up my train of thought and finish the post without any problem. And I did. I doubt you can tell where exactly I stopped. (Hint: It was in this paragraph.)

As I continue to spend time in God’s Word, and to listen to God’s voice directing me, I will be come more sensitive to His leading in my life. But if I choose to go against what I know to be right, then I will let go of God’s hand and be right back where I was before. Or worse. I don’t want that to happen again!

There is so much more I could write in this series, but I think this is a good place to stop. Thank you for reading. I pray you have been challenged.

Tomorrow I will share about another book that has made a big impact on me spiritually. So watch for that post.

Okay, maybe the title of this post should be, “One Thing Is Here and the Other Is Almost Here,” but that would be too long. What is here is my iPod Touch, and what is almost here is Internet.

IPod Touch? Well, KeyBank does these promotional deals where if you open an account and meet certain qualifications, you can get a new gadget. Last summer it was the iPod Touch; now it’s something else. Anyhow, I thought it would be neat to have one, so I convinced my husband to sign up for an account. He did, and really likes the bank. He gets free checks and can transfer from one bank to another for free (which is good, because he has accounts at at least 2 other banks). No, this is not a commercial, but it is kind of exciting to have a new $200ish piece of equipment free. Of course, until we get Internet, it’s not going to be very useful, but I’ve already been taking advantage of the calendar and note-taking and timer features, and think I might start keeping my shopping list on it—at least, once I get a belt clip or some kind of case for it!

But more exciting than that is the fact that in less than a week we will have Internet in our house. I’m almost scared of it. Sure, this is going to mean I don’t have to run to the library to check my email, and if I want to look up a recipe or find out some other bit of information, it will only take a walk down the hall. And maybe I can do a bit more with this blog than I’ve been able to do over the past few months.

But what scares me is that it will suddenly start wasting my time. I haven’t missed it as much as I thought I would. If I wanted to research something, I wrote it down and researched it as fast as I could the next time I was at the library. Because I had to get home after an hour or so, I found it easy to resist the urge to surf from one link to the next. I didn’t delete much out of my inbox—mostly just read the important emails and ignored the rest. But then I only spent about 15-20 minutes max per week on email. With another 5-10 minutes a week, I could delete and unsubscribe from all the unimportant emails and still have time left to watch the videos my friends forwarded but that I couldn’t watch because I never took headphones to the library! Now with  Internet at home, I won’t have the pressure to finish quickly. That concerns me.

But I’m determined not to let the computer run my life like it used to. First, it is no longer in the living room. I know some families like to have the computer where everyone can see it, because it helps the user avoid temptation. But that kind of temptation is not an issue for me; instead, the computer itself becomes a temptation every time I see it. Having it in the office at the end of the hall is a much better idea. The only reasons one would have to walk that far down the hall would be to either go in the office (which is also the sewing room) or to answer the door. So in the normal course of a day I would have little reason to go down there. Out of sight, out of mind—that’s what I’m figuring will be helpful for us. And the office doors are glass, so there’s really no privacy for the other kind of temptation anyway.

Beyond that, though, I have decided I need limits. My husband doesn’t want me online every day, and I agree. There’s no reason to get on every day. I’m not sure if I’m going to pick days, or if I’m going to just use it as the need arises. I may pick days not to use it—like Thursday, which is my cleaning day, and maybe Sunday, since my husband will be home and I can spend the time with him instead. I will also try to not use it often when the kids are awake. Occasionally it might be nice to show Gislaine a video on it, but then, if we set up the wireless she could watch Youtube videos on my iPod. Though I think I’m going to keep the wireless off most of the time—otherwise my iPod could become a problem, too!

And when I do get on, I am going to use some kind of add-on to Firefox that will limit my time online. I am not online as I write this, so I can’t remember the name of the one that I heard about last April or May, but I’m sure I can find it once we’re back online again. I’m going to set up a number of limits. I heard you can limit your time overall, as well as time on certain sites. For instance, I might want to spend no more than an hour and a half on any given day. On the other hand, I don’t want to spend that whole hour and a half on Facebook! So I could limit Facebook to 15 minutes. I think I spent 3 minutes last time, reading a couple of messages and responding. In 15 minutes, I could post a status update, check on my friends, post about my latest blog update, and be done with it. Other sites I might not limit—like my blog admin—but rather let the overall time limit be my limit for the day.

I really liked the efficiency I have at the library. I prioritize. I check email first, responding only where necessary and not reading forwards. Then if I need to do anything with my finances (pay off my credit card, which I use for online purchases of things for our household that I have cash for but not in my bank, or to see if a deposit or withdrawal has cleared, or to move money from one account to another), I do that next. Then I do research that I had planned on, then focus on my blog. I usually am running out of time by then, and sometimes don’t get to post everything I had planned on posting, but I have never spent more than an hour and a half on any given day at the library, and I like that.

So once we have Internet, I’m still going to write things down (probably in a note on my iPod instead of on paper), and wait until the next time I get online to research them, rather than running off to the computer every time I feel like researching something. It is much easier to control my time online this way! Plus, it helps to avoid the instant-gratification syndrome that is becoming so common in the world today.

Also, I’m going to do my best to continue to put exercise before computer. I say continue, because in the last couple of weeks I have been going out for walks while the kids napped (thanks to the Indian summer), and I think this will help me a lot with staying healthy. I’ve been sick too much this summer, and I think lack of exercise was at least partly to blame. I am on a roll now, though. Not sure how many miles I’ve walked so far this week, but I will probably hit 10 before the week is out if I keep up the rate I’m going. That and when I get to the gym, I can do other things besides walk. But this has nothing to do with the Internet, so maybe I should tell you about the gym another time.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me what you do to tame the Internet in your life.

Last weekend we went to the Empowered Living Ministries camp meeting in Hood River, a little over an hour from our place. It was a real blessing! If you’ve never heard of them, you should check them out. I’ll be posting more about this later.

But for now, let’s just say that the impressions I received at this camp meeting, combined with the lack of Internet at home, have led to some drastic changes in my priorities. I will not be having a post every day on this blog. It is not practical for me. I realized that before the move, I had been putting my blog before almost everything, including my Lord, my husband, my children, and my home. Now I am going to put those things in their proper place and my blog below them.

I also realized that I had not asked God’s permission to even have a blog. I think I was scared that He would say no. But I finally did. I surrendered it to Him, ready to quit if He said so. But He didn’t say I had to quit–just to put it at the bottom of my priority list.

So what does this mean practically? There will be fewer posts, but they will have more quality in them. And I will have time for the things that really matter.

Soon I will be writing more book reviews, so watch for those! And thank you for visiting.

The other night my husband and I were talking just before crawling into bed, and he shared something interesting with me that put into words some things I had been sort of convicted about.

The Internet

My husband heard some guy on the radio talk about multitasking online and the tendency to get distracted on the Internet. You know, you open 3 or 4 tabs (I have 5 open at this moment), start something in one, then go to do something in another one, switching back and forth. Or you get online to check your email (maybe you are expecting an important message or have to write one), and then you decide while you’re at it to tell Facebook what you’re up to; then you see an interesting link your friend posted, so you follow that, and before you know it, you’ve wasted half an hour and done nothing productive! Sound familiar? It does to me.

The sad thing is, many of the things we do online are an absolute waste of time. My site stats, for instance. Checking them once a day at most would be much more productive than checking them every hour. They will not get any better for all that I check them. It takes a minute or two to get to them, and all those minutes add up pretty fast. Of course, by the time this publishes, I won’t have Internet at home so I’ll be checking them only once a week. But that has been a problem for me this past month.

It also seems that this multitasking actually wastes time, instead of saving it. Sure, listening to a sermon while I iron is better than ironing in silence and then sitting down to listen to a sermon. But I have found that I really can’t talk on the phone while ironing. I work twice as slow–or stop altogether. It is better to focus on one task at a time. In fact, studies show that working on 3 tasks sequentially will result in less overall time and a better quality of work, as opposed to working on all 3 simultaneously. (See Wikipedia on Human Mulitasking.) This especially applies to the Internet.

My husband has realized that this is true in his own life. He said that he would be working on documentation, and then he would get the urge to check his email (granted, work email, but still…). That would take 2 or 3 minutes, then he was back to the documentation. But then he’d check something else, and was just being distracted all day long. He said he’s renouncing the Internet. I don’t blame him!

But here’s the interesting thing. All this multitasking actually reroutes the neurons in our brains, creating new paths that hinder deep thinking. Having so much information on hand–an overwhelming amount of information–makes it hard for us to focus on any one thing. We tend to scan. That might be fine if you’re trying to find the best sale, but it’s not good when you pick up your Bible.

I will admit that I have been affected in this way. I sit down to read my Bible or a devotional book, and I get distracted very easily. Trying to do my devotions on a computer with Internet usually ends in disaster. My last attempt was successful (you can read about it here), but I rarely even attempt it–because most of the time I succumb to the temptation to check my email or my blog stats or something else–or all of the above.

Is it any wonder that I have been struggling lately in my spiritual life? If I can’t focus on the deep thinking required to digest God’s Word, how can I grow spiritually? How can I focus on prayer, on “being still” before God, when my mind is used to changing topics every 30 seconds?

So I am glad that  soon I won’t have Internet (I’m writing this the day before our big move, so this is probably the last day I’ll have it!). Since I no longer have a car (did you read about that?), I’m probably going to only have access to the Internet once a week (unless I walk to the library–not sure if I want to walk with two kids on that narrow, country road). This means I’m going to have to make a list of things that need to be done online and stick to it so that I don’t get distracted. This blog is going to probably be 90% of what I do online, and that’s fine. Facebook has its advantages, but mostly it’s a waste of time. Email has advantages too, but it should not consume my life!

Enoch

As I was contemplating all this, something struck me. Remember Enoch? “And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.” Genesis 5:24. The Bible doesn’t have much to say about Enoch, but one of my favorite writers has expanded on those words, giving them depth and meaning [Emphasis mine throughout].

Enoch’s walk with God was not in a trance or vision, but in all the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit, shutting himself entirely from the world; for he had a work to do for God in the world. In the family and in his intercourse with men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citizen, he was the steadfast, unwavering servant of the Lord.

His heart was in harmony with God’s will; for “can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3. And this holy walk was continued for three hundred years. . . .

Distressed by the increasing wickedness of the ungodly, and fearing that their infidelity might lessen his reverence for God, Enoch avoided constant association with them, and spent much time in solitude, giving himself to meditation and prayer. Thus he waited before the Lord, seeking a clearer knowledge of His will, that he might perform it. To him prayer was as the breath of the soul; he lived in the very atmosphere of heaven.

Patriarchs and Prophets, 85

Isn’t that beautiful? When I read those words, I have a desire to have such an experience. But notice it meant separation from the world. Earlier in the chapter, speaking of the decendents of Seth and of Cain, the author states,

For some time the two classes remained separate. The race of Cain, spreading from the place of their first settlement, dispersed over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt; and the latter, in order to escape from their contaminating influence, withdrew to the mountains, and there made their home. So long as this separation continued, they maintained the worship of God in its purity. But in the lapse of time they ventured, little by little, to mingle with the inhabitants of the valleys. This association was productive of the worst results. “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” The children of Seth, attracted by the beauty of the daughters of Cain’s descendants, displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the worshipers of God were beguiled into sin by the allurements that were now constantly before them, and they lost their peculiar, holy character. Mingling with the depraved, they became like them in spirit and in deeds; the restrictions of the seventh commandment were disregarded, “and they took them wives of all which they chose.” The children of Seth went “in the way of Cain” (Jude 11); they fixed their minds upon worldly prosperity and enjoyment and neglected the commandments of the Lord. Men “did not like to retain God in their knowledge;” they “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21. Therefore “God gave them over to a mind void of judgment.” Verse 28, margin. Sin spread abroad in the earth like a deadly leprosy.

Ibid, 81-82

So one of the ways Enoch maintained his walk with God was to avoid association with the wicked as much as possible. However, he was a prophet, as Jude points out (see Jude 14-15). And prophets don’t just keep revelations of God to themselves.

Enoch became a preacher of righteousness, making known to the people what God had revealed to him. Those who feared the Lord sought out this holy man, to share his instruction and his prayers. He labored publicly also, bearing God’s messages to all who would hear the words of warning. His labors were not restricted to the Sethites. In the land where Cain had sought to flee from the divine Presence, the prophet of God made known the wonderful scenes that had passed before his vision.

Ibid, 86

But he didn’t stay there, with those for whom he was working. He didn’t stay in the cities of the Cainites.

In the midst of a life of active labor, Enoch steadfastly maintained his communion with God. The greater and more pressing his labors, the more constant and earnest were his prayers. He continued to exclude himself, at certain periods, from all society. After remaining for a time among the people, laboring to benefit them by instruction and example, he would withdraw, to spend a season in solitude, hungering and thirsting for that divine knowledge which God alone can impart.

Ibid, 87

So he worked in the cities, then went for refuge to the country. He never stayed in the cities any longer than he had to. He found refuge in the country, in peace and solitude with God, away from the corrupting influence of the wicked.

Get Out of the Cities

Many people recognize that living in the country is better overall. It’s safer, for one. Have you ever watched The City Movie? You should. It is a documentary about many of the dangers in the cities. But forgetting the dangers from terrorism or natural disasters, think what influences are there. Billboards vie for your attention. Music blares from the car next to you. A gay couple walks hand in hand down the street, right before your children’s innocent gaze. The incessant noise attacks your subconscious mind. It’s all unavoidable. And it’s all designed to draw your attention away from God.

The same author states in other books,

To parents He sends the warning cry, Gather your children into your own houses; gather them away from those who are disregarding the commandments of God, who are teaching and practicing evil. Get out of the large cities as fast as possible. Establish church schools. Give your children the Word of God as the foundation of all their education.

Child Guidance, 310

As God’s commandment-keeping people, we must leave the cities. As did Enoch, we must work in the cities but not dwell in them.

Country Living, 30

So the goal would be to be like Enoch: Go where those who need Jesus are, reach out to them, then go back to the more wholesome influence of the country.

The Application

So I was thinking about all this, and something struck me. The Internet is kind of like the cities. In this day of Facebook and eBay, email and Google, it is almost impossible to “renounce the Internet,” as my husband says he is going to do. I mean, sure, I could get by without it, but I just started this blog and really want to keep it going. But there are real dangers out there, and I need to keep this in mind.

I know of a family whose thirteen-year-old daughter has never used the Internet alone. She might have helped her mom pick out clothes to buy online or something like that, but she doesn’t even have her own email address (much less Facebook or Myspace). She homeschools, but not online. And she’s very happy. She trusts that her parents know what is best and is thankful to be protected from all the dangers out there.

When I first heard that story, I thought they were a little extreme. I mean, they were talking about how they were thinking that in a couple of years they would teach her how to use Microsoft Word, as an introduction to using the computer, before they even let her go online! But as I thought about it, I realized that she was getting more of the childhood I had, without Internet, and she wouldn’t miss it, really. The world is a very different place than it was 15 years ago!

But to apply this, I kind of see the Internet as a parallel to the city. It has become somewhat of a necessity to have access to it, but it doesn’t have to be daily access. Staying away from it is probably a very good idea. It can be a great outreach tool, but that doesn’t mean we should spend every waking hour on it.

So in a way, I too am renouncing the Internet. I will write my posts offline. I will edit my tutorials offline. I will make everything as ready as I can, and then upload and schedule the posts whenever I do get online. I will stay focused on my goals as well, making lists of things I need to research online during the week, and praying that when the time comes I won’t become distracted. And if I do become distracted, maybe I’ll have to stop researching online. I may not get on Facebook much if at all. Later when we get a laptop that I can take to the library, I can install software on it to limit my time on certain sites (like Facebook). That is my resolution. May God help me to keep it!

Has God been speaking to you while you read this article? If so, please post a comment and share. I would love to hear your reactions.

By electroferver on Flickr

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with the Internet. The computer is in a very prominent place in our house; I walk by it all the time, and it is so tempting! That will change once we move, but that doesn’t mean that my character will change. If my goal is character development, I need to deal with this problem now, today, and not wait until we don’t have Internet and the computer is in an office at the end of a hall that I may not walk down every day.

Especially is it difficult for me when I want to use the computer for my personal devotions. It’s connected to DSL, so it’s got Internet as soon as it starts. And it’s so easy to open a browser. And once it’s open, I can see how many new email messages I have in the bottom corner, and all the places I like to go everyday are bookmarked at the top in toolbar.

So when I wanted to get on the computer to research a topic (I don’t have any resources for doing this offline–the few I do have are already packed), I knew it was going to be a temptation. As I showered (finishing with cold to wake me up!), I prayed about whether I should really even do this study during my quiet time, or try to do it another time (which rarely happens). When I felt that I needed to do it, I then prayed that He would give me the strength to resist the temptation. After all, He said in His Word:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

I submitted to Him and asked for His strength to not open the browser (because I could do all the research I needed in offline programs).

Shower finished, I started up the computer, praying again for strength. I opened the program and began my research. But as I tried to focus on the topic, my mind kept drifting to the Internet. I wonder who has sent me email. I wonder how many page views my blog had yesterday. I wonder if I’ll have time to post to the Works For Me Wednesday page, or if it will be too late… I kept dismissing the thoughts and bringing my mind back to my topic, but they kept returning. After doing this several times, I was about to get frustrated. But I realized that although I had to put out some effort, the battle really wasn’t mine, but God’s. I had done all I could. So I prayed, “Lord, please rebuke the devil and all these thoughts and help me to focus. I believe You want me to learn something from this study; help me not to be distracted again.”

And you know what? He did. After about 5 minutes, I suddenly realized that my desire to open a browser was gone. Absolutely gone. And I was able to finish my study without further distractions.

So what about you? Please share how the Lord has helped you in your struggle with self recently.