W8 2 TXT. TRY F2F 1ST.

(translation:  wait to text try face to face first)

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, email, texting, blogging, and maintaining that web presence…it is where young women are. It’s the quickest and easiest way to spread the word, check up on someone, and maintain relationships. It’s how we communicate so we don’t think twice that someone else might not communicate like we do. 

It still blows my mind that many young women in our rural area don’t have frequent internet access. It has posed new challenges as we seek to expand our group as well as shown us how much we rely on technology to carry myMISSION PIEDMONT. Technology is great and it gets us out there and keeps us connected, but when you take technology away, what is left? What are we missing when we look at our screens more than we look at each other and our eyes do the listening more than our ears? 

Sometimes I wonder if we truly remember how to pick up the phone and call people for a conversation (without wanting something from them)? And do we even remember how much it means to send or receive a handwritten card in the mail outside of a holiday or birthday? Or have we become so caught up in the busyness of life that we find ourselves thinking we’ve done all we can through sending the one-lined “thinking of you” text or including someone on a Facebook event invite? Have we traded in real for the superficiality of technology in hopes that it will somehow sustain our myMISSION group long term? 

The more we get back to the basics by calling our young women, sending them a note in the mail, or spending time with them in person, the more they respond and the more we become closer as a group. It’s the personal touches that go beyond technology that let others know that they are valued, cared for, and appreciated (Proverbs 25:11). 

Handwritten notes show thought, time, and intention. Phone calls show that you noticed and cared. Saying “hi” when you see a group member outside of myMISSION reminds them that they are way more than “just a young woman in your group”. 

God has entrusted these young women in our care and truly caring for them goes beyond what technology can provide. Just as God’s love and care isn’t bound to technology, neither should ours be as well (Ephesians 5:1–2).

Amy