Blueberries vs. Burgers

   Justin and I decided to cut our internet back in March because we felt like Netflix, Facebook, and the habit of mindless surfing (mostly mine) were stealing our marriage-building hours. Then my computer died for about three months, so that's why I haven't blogged in a long time.

   Anyway.  We decided to let the world wide web back into our home with the condition that we would help each other avoid re-acquiring the taste for wasting time on it.  As I've been confronting the temptation to blow hours and hours on the web, I've been thinking about how its kind of like the struggle between eating organic vs. processed food.  The internet is an imitation, it can convey all the conceptual realities of the world but only with artificial flavors and textures.  Pinning a cool craft project or a recipe on Pinterest can almost feel like completing the project in real life; the right pictures, statuses, and comments can create a persona of yourself on Facebook that might almost be like you.  But not quite.  The internet may give out sugar-highs, but it never provides real satisfaction.  That's why hours of surfing the web always leaves my brain feeling fat and lifeless, just like a nasty burger-hangover.

  OK, so the metaphor isn't perfect (Facebook and Pinterest are probably not as evil as partially-hydrogenated oils or red food dye) but my point is, we aren't going to find soul-level satisfaction unless we're willing to ditch the quick fixes that so easily creep into our spiritual diets.  I find that in my eating habits or activity choices, I often turn to cheap thrills because I just want to do things my own way and be in control.  Why would I go my own way when we have a God who provides us with things like blueberries?  All that processed candy is just stupid next to freshly picked blueberries!  We can trust the God of blueberries to give us a rich and abundant life that's so much better than anything we could contrive on our own.