7 Ways Older Folks Get It Right...

What can we gain in wisdom from people older than us?

We all seem to realize as we age that our parents (who we once thought didn't understand anything) are really and truly full of wisdom.

This morning our preacher (Dustin Bartee) blessed us with thoughts about 7 ways older folks teach us to live better. (This blog post for today is about point number one.) His words in bold.

1. Look up. There is so much competition for our faces and our attention.  We ignore beauty and people by having our faces constantly in our technology. We struggle with having our phones in our face and ears at all times.  (Guilty as charged.)

I wonder sometimes if we will end up with a society of people that don't even know how to hold a decent conversation, much less get along because of the isolation that our cell phones and iPad bring to our lives. I am most concerned that our children will feel that something on Mom and Dad's phone is more important than they are. These same children will then become just as addicted as Mom and Dad because they copy what they see.

I pray that our children will see our faces in our bibles more than in our phones, and that they will know we seek God's face above all else. We not only need to look up (from our phones) but look up steadily at Jesus. (Again, I am guilty.)

1 Chronicles 16:11- 
Look to the Lord and His strength; seek HIS face always. 

Psalm 27:8- 
My heart says of You, "Seek His face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek.

As my husband and I were having a meal out one evening last week we noticed how many people sat at tables together but were not present because they were engrossed in their phones. Amazing. We took out pen and paper right there and made a list of when it is not acceptable (for us) to be on our phones. Here is what we came up with. (Please know that I am aware that there are times in all of the situations below that we need to have our phones handy for communicating with people. I pray we just don't let them have a stronghold on our minds and lives.)

*During meals at home and out to eat. (We have a friend that tells people up front that they pay for the meal if they get their phones out while eating. I like that.)

*When I am in bed before I go to sleep. 

*At church. (Yes, I know that people use their phones for reading the bible. That is great! I understand, but it makes it so easy to do other things besides reading the scripture, at least for me. If we are tempted to shop on Amazon during worship or text someone maybe bringing our physical bible to church would be a good idea. It's easy, and we can take notes in it too.  People have done it for years and years, really.)

*When I have company in my home.

*While watching t.v. or a movie with someone else. (Really, there is no need to multitask between phone and a movie. Just slow down.)

*During business meetings. 

*When with our children. (Don't turn them into a person that never looks up.)

*While driving a car. Duh. 

*Bottom line...WHENEVER I am with another person my phone should be put away. Period. The people that are in front of me are more important than seeing what everyone else is doing through my phone. 

Dustin reminded us of the groups of older gentlemen that we occasionally see in McDonald's or in a small town cafe. They sit with warm cups of coffee ignoring the television blaring and the busyness of people around them. They look into the eyes of the men around them connecting with their hearts and minds. They have old fashioned conversation and they know each other. 

They look up. 
May we do the same. 






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