When all your FRIENDS become virtual!

I am a member of several different Mom Groups, I lead a Bible Study, and I am in multiple prayer groups.  What do they all have in common?  They are all on Facebook.

On an average day we log on to our computers or our smartphones countless times... scroll down our Facebook newsfeed, we "like" a few status' and pictures, comment on a couple posts, and if we are really feeling social we may even private message a couple friends...afterwards we feel like we have socialized.

In a world overflowing with social media, old fashioned face to face friendships are becoming a thing of the past.  Even as I sit here and type out this blog post I would gladly trade in this MacBook  for a simpler life where people valued time together.

We fool ourselves into believing we are bonding, creating, and nurturing our friendships through technology.  I even catch myself talking to my husband and mom about what is going on in someone's life like I've sat down and talked to them when in reality everything I know is from their latest status update.

I think we all struggle with maintaining and creating friendships, we are so busy, and with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and many other social media networks at our fingertips it is easy to let social media replace quality time with other people.

Once I became a Mom it became increasingly challenging and now that I am a Mom of two most of my friendships have become "virtual".  God created us have relationships with each other, we need friendships and I'm pretty sure the friends He wanted us to have were not suppose to be Facebook friends. 

Personally I have 675 Facebook friends...six hundred and seventy five!!  How many friends have I talked to on the phone this week?  Only my family.  How many have I met for lunch or a playdate this month?  None.  

The reality is shockingly sad.  

I am guilty of not putting forth the effort to create and nurture friendships.  The idea of having playdates and spending time with other Moms is very appealing but when it comes time to get the children dressed and out the of the house, sometimes I question whether or not it is really worth the effort.  

I plan to start making a "real" effort to build and nurture my friendships.  Social media is not all bad.  However, in order to have fulfillment in life we NEED to connect and interact with people on a level that Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can not provide.