Blessing #26 of 30

I love what Carrie Snow said about technology.  

 “Technology… is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand,   and it stabs you in the back with the other."               

I, like many, have a love/hate relationship with the miracle of technology.  It is easy to love it when it corrects my spelling and punctuation. It is easy to love it when a phone is always at my fingertip in case I have an emergency.  I love having a car full of gadgets that tell me what is working and what isn't.  I love it when I need some clipart or a quote and it's at my fingertips.  I love being able to listen to a talk, a book on tape, or music.  I love having church at my fingertips to enhance my study time.  I love seeing pictures of what is happening at each of your homes and I love receiving texts and emails from Canada, North Dakota, Utah and California.  It is truly a blessing to have so many things that enrich my life.  That being said it is challenging to see how easy it has been to replace personal interaction with one another.  To release us from the obligation of making eye contact.  To make it easier to be critical of one another with biting words and judgmental assumptions.  I knew a mother in New Hampshire who had very strict rules in her home about technology.  All phones went into her bedroom at night.  Technology was never allowed during family times.  When company came one on one interaction was required and excepted.  I can honestly say that her children were some of the most outgoing and friendly teenagers I had ever met.  They knew how to talk to each other, their friends, and adults.  They knew how to use technology and were better equipped because of the availability that it provided.  But they also learned from their parents that there was a time and a place for everything.  I believe that technology is a great blessing as long as we understand that it should never replace the joy of family chatter.  Technology should never replace or weaken family relationships.  I sure love all of our wonderful technology!  We have truly been blessed because of it.