10-day Challenge and Facebook

I posted recently about several Twitter accounts I follow that focus on healthy marriages. One of those is One Flesh Marriage. I spent some time today reading through their blog. I am even more impressed with their message than I was before.

First of all, they are encouraging married couples to take part in a 10-day challenge. This challenges husbands and wives to have sex every day for 10 days. The 10-day Challenge starts on February 5, and ends on Valentine's Day. I personally think this is a great idea, and I'll be talking with Jordan about doing the challenge (I don't think he will have a problem with it!).

I know, to a lot of "well-seasoned" couples, Jordan and I are still honeymooners. This may be true, but that doesn't mean we can't work on things. Honestly, with Jordan working late and me being pregnant (and growing rounder by the day) it isn't always easy to make time for sex.

But aside from the challenge, I found a post on their blog that really hit home for me.

"You Have A Friend Request" resonated with me because of my activity on Facebook.

I enjoy Facebook. It has brought me closer with many relatives who live far away, we now have a relationship that we wouldn't have had otherwise. I've gotten in touch with friends I grew up with and haven't seen in years. I've met new people through my husband and we have become friends thanks to our communication on Facebook. But I am guilty of some of the things that blog post talks about.

I have complained about people, and those people have found out, and it hurt our friendship. I have ranted about things that should be kept personal. I have commented on a status in anger. I'm sure there's more.

It's true. Posting those things, and having people comment back that they understand, or even just ask what is wrong, gives me a sense of validation. But that doesn't make it right.

At the same time, I think Facebook is a great place to ask for prayers for certain situations. Where else do you have access to 500 prayer warriors with the click of a mouse? But even with prayer requests, details should be kept at a minimum.

During church prayer times, silent requests are acceptable. Why not on Facebook?

One pet peeve I have is seeing spouses complain about each other. I have promised my husband that if I ever have a beef with him, I will not air it to the world. That is something he and I need to work on, without outside influence. Too often a complaint about a spouse can open the door to others complaining, and it just feeds the fire. It can get out of hand very quickly, and just lead to hurt and resentment where there could have been communication and healing.

Think twice before you post. I have started to, and often find myself either rewording a post, or not posting at all. I even just now went back to look at my recent posts, and found I had complained a bit. So I'm still a work in progress myself!

The short of it is this: Facebook is a tool that can be used in many ways. The devil can use it to pull us away from God and our spouse. Or we can use it to lift others up to God on a daily basis. Are your posts bringing people down, or lifting them up? It might be time to take a moment and re-evaluate what you use Facebook for.