Summer Vacation & Online Idolatry

So to all three of you who actually read this regularly, you've likely noticed a summer sparseness, with a grand total of six entries since May, and zero for over a month. A mix of intentionality & busyness has led to this impromptu "summer vacation":

• First, July & August have been "bare minimum" months, where I've scaled back any excess to make sure & cover the necessary. With Baby Connelly arriving any day now, I've spent the last several weeks preparing practically for the life-change, even though I have no idea exactly what to prepare for! I've tried to make sure everything was planned well for the fall; I've been wrapping up loose ends & to-do lists; I've been building cribs and hanging cute things; etc. So social media took a back seat.
  
• Second, I've spent most of my writing time over the summer working on a resource for practical, everyday ways to live on mission. With many books on the philosophy of missional living, and many resources for pastors and churches on how to lead their congregations on living it out, I wanted to put together some stuff for The City Church family (& maybe others too, who have given input & asked good questions about it), with hands-on, practical, personal ways to live as a missionary, every day of our lives. It's the most comprehensive resource I've ever worked up, but it's coming together (in a VERY rough-draft sense right now!), & my goal is to wrap it up before "Tiny" arrives.
  
• Third, & most importantly: I've taken a break from blogging & largely from twitter & facebook too, because I realized it was becoming an unhealthy thing for me - even an idol on some levels. I realized I was becoming enamored when 'google analytics' told me how many hits the blog had, or that I felt a touch of disappointment if retweets or blog readers were down. In a small, stupid, but real way, some of my identity had become wrapped up in the number of people who glanced at my words! That's unhealthy. So I decided I needed a break from it, which happened to coincide with the first two reasons to go radio silent for awhile.

I'm picking back up for the fall. I'm sure there will be baby pics up here before too long, & I'm excited to share some of the "practical, everyday mission" stuff I've been working on; and there's some cool stuff I'm getting to be a part of this fall I'm excited to post soon. But my social media "fast" taught me a few things:

• I don't need to waste time with analytics or numbers - I can feel free to write without impressing folks, or caring about reposts, or whatever, so I need to avoid those.
• I feel less pressure going into the fall, to post a certain number of times per week or month.
• Social media can be a good tool, but it can also be a huge waste of the time I formerly spent doing things that breathed life into me.

So I'm back online for the fall - occasionally. Thanks for reading, & I'd love your thoughts, comments, & advice on my stupid social media idolatry.

AND to fill the sadness & void left by fewer posts from me (kidding!), my pretty wife, who's a far better writer & has more to say than she gives herself credit for, has started a blog too. In her words, "I have no idea how regular this will be or even what I will really talk about it - but I would guess it will have to do with thoughts on [home] projects, God, Tiny, cooking, and my random thoughts."

Check out Jess' blog here.