Hey friends! 👋🏼

Y'all it's been a wild week, especially with Easter, a birthday party, and so much more all at once.

Let's dive right in.

A Thought. 💡

A few weeks ago, I wrote about starting my journey through the season of Lent of staying off social media. At first, I thought I would struggle with withdrawals or something like that for the first week or so, but fortunately there wasn't any of that--though 6ish weeks is much longer than the 30 days I've done in the past.

As of this writing, we're past Easter and I've yet to get back on social media, even though I technically am finished with the Lent journey. I've been wanting to think through all of my thoughts and reflections to adequately process what I experienced over the past few weeks before I get back online. Along with that, I'm currently working on a digital rule of life (a list of rhythms, routines, and habits that order my life) that I'm hoping will give me more clarity and purpose instead of using social media simply as a crutch or something to do when I'm waiting in the line at the grocery store or don't have anything else to do.

In the next week or so, I'll be posting a video on my YouTube channel (I know..it's been forever since I've posted there) with more in depth thoughts about what I learned during my time of being off social media. But for now, there's only one thing that I really feel needs to be said about social media, our relationship to it, and everything else.

It's not that important. And no, you don't need it.

While there's so much more to say here (and I'll keep talking about it for the next few weeks), the simple truth is that without your Instagram (or insert your platform of choice here), the world keeps turning. And there's a whole lot more to life than what happens on the rectangular piece of glass that we keep in our front right pockets. There's so much beauty, so much fun, so much joy happening in the real world, and sometimes we have a tendency to miss it because we've become convinced somewhere along the way that we just have to check on what's happening online.

Now let me be clear. I'm not anti-social media. I'm not going to make the argument that everyone should protest and delete their social accounts tonight when they get home. But what I will argue for is being present. For choosing the real world over what happens online. For having control and mastery over our devices and not letting them have control and mastery over us.

I almost didn't go back. I mean, technically I haven't yet. But when I do, things will be very different. I can't wait to share all of those details with you next week. In the meantime, I'd love to finish this conversation with you. Have you ever taken some time off of social media or the internet altogether? Let me know what you thought about that experience.

A Resource. 📚

A couple of weeks ago, our church started a new series taking a look at how we read the Bible. Our desire is to help people have a healthy realtionship to the Bible and to see it as a means by which we are formed into the image of Jesus. So for the next few weeks we'll be posting a series of podcast episodes and having intentional conversations on Sundays surrounding this topic, and I'd love to share them with you.

You can check out this YouTube playlist to catch up on the podcast episodes so far. In the descriptioin of the video you'll find lots of other resources, including a recommended reading list where you can order copies of some of the books that have been meaningful for us in crafting these conversations. If you pick one up, let me know what you think about what you read!

A Verse. ✝️

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’

--Matthew 28v5-7 (NIV)

​

Blessings 🙏🏽

Kyle