Some of you saw this coming. You read my last post and just knew: that girl is quitting Facebook. Yes, it is true. I am finally finished with Zuckerberg’s grand experiment that began as a way for college kids to hook up at parties. I am too old for parties. Or maybe I am too young for the parties Facebook throws. Either way, I am no longer looking for the FB invitation.
For years I have been considering dropping this social for good, but I was never quite ready. Cutting the threads that tied me to so many people I’ve loved throughout life felt too final. This was a decision that would hurt.
And, truthfully, it will hurt, but I think it’s time.
Throughout my life I have found when making a decision that is right for me, my heart opens up, a smile sneaks onto my face, and I can, once again, breathe deeply.
I felt it the day I committed to Notre Dame. I felt it the day I married my husband. I felt it yesterday when I followed the impulse to check in with a former student. I felt it today when I formally decided to quit Facebook.
When a decision feels perfectly right, it is a decision approved of by God.
That instinctive feeling is one of the many ways God talks to us. We listen well when we’re young, our connection with God unfettered by social expectation. But somewhere along the way we start caring more about what others think about us and less about what we think about ourselves. When we stop listening to our souls, we stop listening to God.
Decisions like this one are sometimes hard to make because they feel personal, that somehow my choice is a judgement on yours. But using Facebook is not a moral decision. It is just an app. It is just a tool that we can choose to use, or not.
I made the decision to leave because this tool is no longer working for me. Instead of helping me stay connected, it has made me feel more disconnected from the people I love. It is time.
There is one aspect I will miss. FB was a fun way to share my blog posts and interact with you, so I want to give you a couple of options if you enjoy my random thoughts connecting life with faith. I’m over on Instagram (@godforevertries) and you can always get an email in your inbox each time I post by subscribing to the blog email list on my website (http://www.godforevertries.com).
If our lives are meant to touch again, and I hope they are, it will happen, with or without Facebook. In the meantime, I will miss you and I will be praying for you.
god forever tries 
Julie assures me I will still be getting postings of god forever tries. I am not on facebook. I am just verifying I will still get postings from you.Correct???? I am bumbling along looking for good things and loving my people. Just finished my list of year-end donations. Both your dad and Julie tell me I am crazy to use the method I do every year (it’s apparently cumbersome to them, but i does work for old-fashioned me, and I think I am too old to change my ways anyway. How was Thanksgiving? Did Dave actually do the turkey?
The kids have one more week of hoe school, then a three week Christmas vacation. There may be an opportunity for Charlotte to go back to real school after Christmas, but I think she will stay home with the other kids. I think school will be for only through third grade then.
There has been a cookie baking frenzy going on here for a few days. I just eat them—not bake or ice them—but it has been fun watching and eating!
All this charity stuff has tired me out. I haven’t read a book in three days! Will be good to go back into my lazy routine!
Love you and think of you every day. Gma > Ot
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