Facebook....real or imaginary?

I have a growing hatred for the social media site, Facebook.  I can't stop the hatred.  Hatred is a strong word.  My daughter would say, "Mommy, that's a bad word."  We will use loathe.  Yes, much better. ;)

I should give you the back story....

I am having a bad day.  Not an obvious bad day.  I did fun things today, and had positive interactions with my kids and my super cool gym buddy that outweighed the negative ones.  I just had a day.  A day that doesn't want to end without rendering me helplessly crying for no reason.  That kind of day.  If we are honest, we all have them.  I am really honest, which, by the way, gets me in trouble a lot, but that's neither here nor there.  I decided to write, because that is what I like to do to feel better.  It is working...so hang with me....I think you are going to agree with what I am saying. :)  

So, what do I do with my bad day???  I log onto the happiest place on Earth.  A place where anyone can be anything they want to be.  A place where the ultimate insult is blocking someone or writing some cryptic status about something you are angry about.  I log on, and begin lurking around.  I see certain people who only comment and "like" certain people, another attempt to throw weight around behind the scenes of shiny laptops or IPhones or any other vice of choice.  I am more of a Facebook stalker I guess.  I kind of just soak in information and then log off.  I like to post pictures of my adorable kids and write about things that they say and do, and post my blogs, but most of the time, I stalk lurk.  

As I lurked around, I must have rolled my eyes and sucked my teeth 6 million times.  God must have logged on at that moment, because I got an invisible private message to "knock it off and fix your attitude."  I logged off.

It got me thinking though....does anyone really like Facebook?  I mean, really like; enjoy logging on, look forward to logging on, or gain positive thoughts from logging on?

There are some reasons I enjoy Facebook.  I have maintained friendships with people who I rarely get to see.  I love following people's lives in the social media world and seeing baby announcements and wedding announcements and the like.  I love when I can connect with friends from high school/college and see where life has led them, and reconnect with them in that way.  Sometimes, I find out things I must commit to prayer for people via their statuses, and similarly  posting a quick request on Facebook gets anyone plugged in, praying right away.

I will not delete my Facebook anytime soon, I guess, although I think about it daily.  I am keeping it for the good, the positives.

Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks this.  In an attempt to feel somewhat normal, I googled, "hate facebook".  Hysterical.  Really.

How does one stay away from the nasty stuff???  How does one ignore the attempts of shun from other people??  How do we ignore the attempts of mean girl attitudes???? I am legitimately curious, because, I guess if we are all honest, Facebook just makes our bad days, worse.

I have a little thought experiment for you to participate in or not.  It helped me. :)

1.) Is Facebook our God?

If I am spending more time on Facebook then reading my scriptures, or doing anything else, there is an influence problem. A worship problem.

2.)  Is the cyber me helping me to see reality?

As stated, I let Facebook wars and silent attempts at my happiness get to me.  We should not let this happen.  We should worship the truths of God, not the so called truths of our Facebook friends.

3.)  Is my Christian witness suffering? 

If we cannot maintain our witness on Facebook by being integral, kind, loving, etc., should we really be a member?  Are you airing your dirty laundry and compromising your walk with Christ?

4.) Is Facebook taking away the peace that I have in God's truth about me?

Is Facebook aiding me in seeing myself as God sees me, or as others view me?  Is having a Facebook account causing my confidence in the good promises of God to fade away?

5.) Am I honoring my spouse/family?

God wants us to honor our husbands/wives.  Are we putting something on Facebook that dishonors our family?  Are we giving our spouses what they need when we are reading and keeping up with our friends, rather than the needs of our husband?

6.) Are you stealing?

When are you on Facebook?  Are you at work?  Stealing time from your employer, is stealing,
period.

7.)  Are you lying?

Is the YOU on Facebook, the YOU of real life?