Here we go

The media fast this year kinda crept up on me, because I was helping out with the middle school Winter Camp, but now it is here I am kinda excited. I remember how much I grew last year and to top that off, Matt gave us a devotion book to be doing during the fast. I was looking through it and it is a different style of devotion than I have ever done and I am super excited to seeing what it has in store for me. Anyway, this is going to be an awesome Month and I cant wait to see what God has in store for us
-Erik W.

Expectations/Day 1

      I have been very nervous but also very excited to start this media fast. I have never done anything like this before, so it should be very different. I am hoping to focus more of my attention on reading the Bible, listening to gospel music, and watching movies centered around God. This media fast will be a great  accomplishment to boost my confidence in things that I can do whether I doubt my ability to do whatever it might be or not. I'm assuming that this fast will be very difficult, but a great experience and month to grow in my relationship with God and to open my eyes to how much time that I waste every single day.
      Today was my first day of the media fast and it actually went very well. I was surprised at how little I missed using various applications on my phone, watching television, etc. I must admit that I checked my phone pretty often for notifications that I didn't have. Although, I didn't miss responding to them as if they had a great significance in my life at all. I listened to some music by Lecrae and other music by Chris Tomlin throughout the day and found some very strong and powerful lyrics in their songs. By doing this media fast even just for one day so far, I can see how much time that I waste doing different pointless things on my phone from the time I wake up until the time that I go to sleep. Even though there are 29 days to go, I was glad to see how little I missed these pointless things in my life and I hope that it continues to get better from here on out. I am very excited and hopeful for what these upcoming weeks are going to bring and goodluck to all that are participating!

And They're Off!

Usually when I wake up, I head straight for the bathroom to start getting ready for my day, and I always bring my phone with me. I scroll through Instagram, send Snapchat streaks, or read an interesting book. However, today was different. I got up, changed, brushed my teeth, filled up my water bottle, and was ready to go in under five minutes. Normally, I take around 15 minutes to get ready in the morning. Just the simple act of cutting out my media saved me 10 minutes. It may go unnoticed by us in our daily lives how often we check our phones or unlock them just to turn them off again, or how many times a day we go to Instagram or Facebook to kill time.  But for those of us purposefully avoiding media, I realized how many urges I had to check my phone, and I am sad to admit it was more than I would have liked. I am not so addicted to social media that not going on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook etc bothers me, but in fact it does the opposite. I don't have any time wasters. That means getting ahead on homework, studying for my math test, and practicing my several upcoming presentations. On the way home from school today, I noticed a beautiful tree with budding purple flowers that I know I would not have seen normally, as I would have been on my phone. We miss so much by the time that adds up very quickly when we are looking at distractions. Although it is hard for me even after one day to avoid Netflix and my favorite 80's music, I am excited to prove myself to God that he is the most important thing in my life, even if that means giving up things I "love." I am looking forward to the next 29 days as we all continue our journey.
-Samantha Ross

Expectations

     It's that time of year again: the Media Fast! I got back on the ol' blog and was checking out some old blog posts, including some of my own, and I was (and I'm trying to be humble here) impressed by some of the things I had said and was actually inspired by them because I had forgotten how awesome the fast had been in the last two years. However, I'm now stared in the face by a barely filled blog post and I want to say something witty or poetic or philosophical or wise or whatever. Something catchy. Something people would like. And I'm realizing that the feeling I get when I'm on social media, the longing to be accepted and liked and thought of as funny or popular or smart, has followed me out of social media and into the blogosphere of the Media Fast. Not exactly a good thing, is it?

     I crave that acceptance and attention, which I know I have from my Father, but social media tells me that I need people to tell me that I matter, that likes or retweets or the longest Snapchat streak determine my worth. I am worthy in the eyes of the Lord, and the insecurity and anxiety that I face in this secular world will be quieted by his love. Expectations fuel that anxiety, but since I'll be off the media that "holds" these expectations, I'll be more focused on what God has in store for me.
     So, after all that, I still need to answer the question: "What is your personal goal for the media fast this year?" Well, I think my goal is to be less obsessed with secular "acceptance" and more obsessed with discovering God's acceptance of me. I will be giving up all social media/games, such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest, as well as secular media, such as TV, books, movies, and music. TV and books won't be super hard to give up, as I don't have a lot of sit-down time to watch a TV show or read a bit of a book. However, my family usually watched movies together on the weekends, so giving up most of the movies we usually watch will be difficult, but it will also give us the opportunity to discover Christian movies. I'd have to agree with Brandon about the difficulty of giving up music, because I love music and connect to different styles in different ways, so giving up secular music is going to be hard for me, especially with how easily accessible it is. However, I'm looking forward to hearing new songs on KLOVE and listening to songs that I added to my Spotify "Jesus Jams" playlist this time last year, rediscovering the connection I made with them last year and making new connections to God through them this year.
     Sorry for such a long post, but I hope this provides a bit of insight into my approach to the Media Fast and my wishes for the Media Fast. Thanks to all of you participating and supporting, and thank You, Lord, for all You've done in my life and all the things You're going to do.
     Happy Media Fast, everyone!
Madeleine Jones

Voici!

     Bonjour, everyone!  Welcome to another year of the thirty day media fast.  I remember when I was an eighth-grader, I didn't exactly look forward to the media fast, because when you think about it, if you ask a teen today to give up all of their secular media, (I know you don't have to give up all of it, but still) than you will get some pretty crazy looks.  Just talking about it at school brings up questions like, "Is this a punishment?" or "Oh... this is like Lent isn't it?"  No, neither of those, but the fact that it even starts up conversations is a good thing.  As the years progress, and society and its youth become more and more integrated into the world of media, it becomes so easy to be consumed by completely useless media.  Yeah, I said useless.  It's the truth.  Anyways, even with experience, it's most likely going to be much harder than last year's or the years before that. Well, for me at least.  So good luck to you all that are doing the media fast as well, and to the sponsors supporting and praying for us all. Thank you to you as well.

     This year, the hardest part of the media fast for me to give up is going to be my music.  It has always been the hardest part for me to give up, and will always be the hardest part for me to give up.  The reason is because music has an emotional, psychological, and even spiritual effect on me that I can't even describe completely here, which is even more reason to give it up.  I will also be giving up all other secular media that isn't school related.  I will definitely be missing my books, and certain movies, but I still say my music beats them by far.  I think that I will notice new things during this media fast even though I have done it five years before, because even though we try, we will never completely understand God, His plan, and the ways He changes us, even though that's what the world tries to convince us sometimes.  So this fast is less of a sacrifice, than an opportunity to open myself up and let him work, even though I might think I have it all figured out.

2017 30 Day Media Fast begins soon!

It's only a couple days away! This year, our students are doing something a little different with the devotions during the month... they have been given a book in which they will connect with 1 of their sponsors and meet with them each week for 4 weeks to discuss what they are doing in their devotional time.

I can't wait to hear the feedback from the students who connect with an adult who is crazy about them... but I'm even more excited to hear back from those sponsors who get a chance to see how our students are growing in their faith!

God has got some big things planned this year... keep an eye on this blog for feedback from the students!