But today I wanted to write about one of the more drastic spending changes we have made. We are discontinuing our internet. Completely. Tomorrow.
I am still getting very nervous about that change. We have a great alternative that I am very excited about. We have a new coffee shop in our town that has internet access. Scott has been encouraging me to get away regularly for a little quiet time. But of course I never do it. Now he's saying, "You are doing it and here's some extra motivation." So I'll get to play on the internet, have some time to be quiet and alone, and save over $60.00 a month at the same time (minus the cost of the coffee, of course).
Now, every time I think about not having internet access at my fingertips, my heart pounds. I'm not saying this is good, I'm just saying this is what happens. Right now, I keep my laptop open on the desk in full view of the kitchen and within listening distance to most of the house, and I can just pop over and get online whenever I want to check out a recipe, check the weather forecast, or whatever else springs in my mind. I can also hear the comforting bing from Outlook, telling me someone loves me, um, I mean, that I have an email.
But I can already think of some great reasons why this is a good idea. Scott and I will no longer walk over the computer to check our inbox before we great our children or each other. Gone will be the ability to hide behind the keyboard while countless minutes pass and this dishes don't get done. My internet time will have to count. This will be a good thing.
I think this new plan will not only save us money, it will save us time. And cause us to think about our internet time and also our time here at home. We want to have more face to face conversations with people like our children.
I'll still be writing on my blog, and using autopost as my friend. I'll still be looking forward to reading your comments and writing back and forth. I am hoping that my posts will be better and more focused, but that may be setting my hopes too high.
So even though I am very unsure how this will work, I am so thankful Scott came up with this idea. I am looking forward to the discipline it will bring. It is our prayer that God will use this change to conform us more into his image and to bring himself glory as the sustaining joy of our lives.
8 comments:
Tami,
Hi! I am so thankful for being able to keep up with your family via your blog posts. I miss your friendship! Your kids are growing beautifully and fast. It's great to see that you all are a pastoring family- Scott is such a gifted teacher and you are such a graceful example of a child of God/wife/mother! Thank you for all of your wisdom and encouragement that has blessed me when we were in FL together and even now.
Love in Christ,
Jessica Peters
Jessica! Please email me so we can catch up! I miss you, too and would just love to hear from you.
Thank you for your encouragement. We needed to hear that.
That's great Tami! I was a little sad in the beginning as I was reading it. But, I'm glad that it's not totally over! LOL
But, I'm happy with what you all decided AND you get some time to yourself. That's great.
Zinnada<><
Thanks, Zinnada. I just snuck away to the library for a minute (it's on the road we live on, so I really can just pop in here whenever). I still think this will be hard sometimes (we LOVE the internet), but good for us!
You are so brave!! No internet access? Are you sure you can't just do without water or groceries? LOL!
I think you are right, though, you will have to be much more productive with your internet time!
Good luck and saving money is always a good idea.
This was convicting! I was just talking to Paul about how tempting it is to waste time, neglect the kids or one another because we just want to "surf" the web or feed my self esteem by seeing a comment on the blog :) We talked about setting the time to 30 minutes a day and seeing how that goes. I am encouraged that you are diving into this and know you will see good fruit from it in your marriage, parenting and your mind won't be as distracted either. Let us know how that is going for you. I read a post for a little bit back and wondered if you might elaborate on doing family goals - you were speaking of summer goals - but how often do you do them and how? Do you feel they are fruitful? When your kids are really little like mine do they offer opinions? Also some tips of money saving and budgets would be great for the future (Paul and I are trying to grow in this too!) I am struggling with having healthy stuff that's cheap for meals. Thanks for your posts - miss ya!
Well, now I know how people feel when I tell them we don't have a TV :-)
I'm not going to go into my reaction imagining my life without internet, but you have given me something to think about.
I too have considered get rid of internet to save on money but Greg decided to start taking classes online and becoming a computer programmer so internet is now apart of us I suppose .. lol I need to cut it somewhere though..ugg.
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