Christian Homekeeping

Our digital data, which includes files and photos, is becoming so massive and important to most of us that we have to add in methods of managing it, organizing it and storing it.  Protecting our digital data is highly important if we wish to pass it down to generations after us, namely our children.  I wanted to show you all my recommendations of how to do this currently.  With technology ever-changing, we have to keep up with new ways of doing things to preserve our memories, but this is the best way that I have found for what is available to us today.

Just face the fact that you have to set aside a time in your schedule to manage your data.  You will need time to sort, organize, store and definitely backup your data.  If you don't, then you will risk losing your digital data upon the occasion that malware, ransomware, natural disaster or a thief captures your data.  Are you ok with losing everything?  Most of us aren't and it would be devastating, especially to lose our photos.  You can replace a lot of things that you lose or have stolen but you can't replace memories that were preserved in photos.  You must set aside a weekly, biweekly or at least monthly time to do your downloads, organizing and backing up to keep up with all your ever-growing data!

Most of us have our files and photos saved on our desktop or laptop computers and some only have them on a device, such as a tablet or phone.  I recommend that everything be on your computer as a first line of managing those files and also to organize them.  It is a lot easier, in my opinion, to use a keyboard and a mouse and a larger screen to manage the files, then it is to use a smaller screen with just your finger maneuvering through the process.  However, more importantly, is that your phone can easily be stolen and isn't a safe place to store your data.  I recommend you download your data, specifically photos, to your computer for the first step in backing it up.

Once your files are on your computer, how do you manage or organize them?  You create folders, just like you would in a physical filing cabinet.  Envisioning your digital files in comparison to physical ones in a filing cabinet will probably help you grasp how to manage the data.  Let's start with the main folder called "Pictures" - this would obviously be where most people store their photos - then, "Documents" would be where most people store their other files.  Under each of these, you would create folders with various categories and this is personal preference, but for example, I have mine organized as such: Google Backups; Extended Family; Weight Loss; Inspiration and Ideas; Graphics; Blog Pics; MISC, etc.  Inside each of these folders, I further break it down into categories.  For instance, for Google Backups, which is my downloaded copy of Google Photos, I prefer to go by folders of years and then months.  This makes it easy for me to find the pictures and videos I took during a certain year or month.  For Extended Family, I use categories such as: My Family and Husband's Family - and from those subfolders, I further break it down into Older, Old, and vacations or reunions.  I think this way of organizing pictures will help my children in future years find whatever they are looking for.

For documents, I use categories such as: Finances; Homeschool: Christian: Articles; eBooks; Manuals; Recipes: Songs, etc.  Again, these categories have subfolders to organize even further.  What if you have files that you just don't have time to sort?  Simply make a folder on your desktop called "Sort" and throw the files in there and set aside a time to go through each file and organize it where it goes.  Also, make sure you regularly keep up with clearing out your downloads folder in the same way.

Now, that we know how to manage, organize and have a first layer of storage of our data, let's talk about backups! 

First of all, no I don't make any money off this blog nor do I intend to but I have had a lot of people volunteer ways I could.  It is as though people think since you have a blog, that you must be trying to make money off it.  Well, news flash!  I actually love writing and have since I was a child but back then I wrote in paper journals and no one ever read them (though I'm pretty sure my mom and sisters sneaked a peek at one time or another).  I wrote my first book, a children's book, in 8th grade for a class assignment.  I even illustrated it but it wasn't the illustrations that helped my book win LOL - I'm SO not an artist, you don't want to see my drawings!! I remember my 8th grade English teacher telling me I had a gift, though I didn't really know what to do with it at that time.

Since high school, I continued to write in journals and when the internet became common, I got an online journal.  That became popular and I was featured on AOL's front page one day and the response was intimidating to say the least.  I was writing about my passion back then, which was fitness, and I got a lot of questions and offers, some of which I did do - a magazine article that featured me and then I was a poster girl for a women's body-building nutrition program (NO I DID NOT SHOW MY BODY in a bathing suit - I stayed modest even in that arena in a skirt!).

After the fitness craze hit its peak and I realized I had even put it before God and was obsessed with it, I let go of that passion.  However, writing never left me, it is and probably always will be a love of mine and part of who I am.  It is like an appendage really, I feel like I can communicate my very soul in writing sometimes and articulate my points way better than I can in person.  My next venture was a homekeeping blog, which had a different name in the beginning but a few years later as it started growing, I became Christian Homekeeping.

I had this blog up before with a large readership but I also had a lot of issues happen in my personal life and with bullies on this blog, so I took it down thinking I would never pick it back up again.  However, for the 6 months I closed my blog down, I was depressed without writing. Sure, I could write but I wanted to write and have people READ what I wrote and enjoy it!  So, after a time of recovery from some things and building up a backbone, I brought this blog back up and have just now regained the readership that I once had.  I've been blogging on homekeeping for almost 9 years now and though I feel sometimes that I've shared all I could, I seem to keep coming up with things I want to write about.

I've had offers to have advertisers on this blog but I didn't want to make this a place where you would come and it would be cluttered with ads and things that I didn't truly want to promote.  I could easily make this venture into a money-making business but it would take away from what God has called me to do - be a wife and mother!  Those come first and any extra time I have leftover (other than the 5-10 minutes it takes to write a blog post), I would rather give it to my kids or husband, than try and earn money.  Time is valuable to those that depend on me and they need me, I'm a crucial part of this home to make it run smoothly and to raise up kids that are well-loved and well-instructed.  Money just can't buy that!!

I've noticed that at the doctor's office and many other places that I've been to recently, seems like everyone is on their phone, usually a smartphone.  I'm longing to talk to others and meet new people but everyone else is shutting the world out.  The thing is, they are probably on "social" media but at the same time, they are so disconnected from REAL face-to-face conversation and the chance to meet someone new.  It really disgusts me, maybe because I'm not into the whole smartphone thing - I got rid of mine before it got too smart.

What I really enjoy is meeting people at the grocery store or shopping when they aren't on their phones.  Some think I'm weird for talking to them, others are refreshed that someone wants to talk to them.

The saddest part of all this is that so many are letting their friends just slip away.  I've had friends just let me go because I wasn't on Facebook and that is where they have chosen to have their "life."  Since I'm not on there, I'm not in their "life" anymore.  Sad.  God help us.  It is all part of Satan's plan to prevent us from having real, loving relationships and to promote the superficial ones and the fake person we share online in social media - the one we want others to think we are.  The one that makes us feel good about ourselves, boosts our ego and self esteem - the one that is destroying us because it is making us full of SELF.  Taking SELFies and posting pictures of our SELF all. the. time.  Self-glorification is now the norm.

Get off your stupid phones and get a real life!!!!!  Ok, there, I said it.  Don't let life pass you by and friends pass you by, forget your SELF and think about others - don't let Satan distract you all the way to hell.  

Facebook is not only is a den of gossip, full of vanity, promoting a superficial image of yourself, creating superficial friendships and is cited as the reason for divorce in 1 in 5 divorces, but now its being used for its original intended purpose - valuing others based upon looks.  This could cause depression, low self-esteem and eventually suicide.  Think of how many lives have been destroyed, don't forget marriages, by this tool.  How sad that parents would even let their children use such a thing.  God help us!




I like how this 21-year old got rid of his Facebook and wrote about it, he is more mature than most adults!

Facebook, we need to have a DTR (defining the relationship) talk…It’s not all your fault, it’s mostly mine…This is the end of you and me, Facebook. I’m leaving you because I have spent more time browsing your pages than I have been spending in the pages of The Good Book. And I can’t live like that anymore. I’ve let you become a monster…you’ve taken too much of my time and my thoughts. Maybe it’s just my lack of self-control or discipline, but you’re addictive to me. I’m ashamed of the number of times I check you daily. If I were able to grasp how much time I have spent swimming though your endless ocean of profiles, I would be able to bear the guilt.

Here’s why: because of your profiles, I’ve become lazy. Because of you I found myself talking with person after person, asking them questions that I already knew the answers to. On many levels I’ve substituted and even avoided personal interactions with people because of your artificial and superficial means of communication. You have diluted my perception of true social interaction.

You’ve made me a coward. There’s a difference between a Facebook friend and an actual friend. Everyone knows the difference, but when one tries to reach across the barrier from Facebook friends to actual friends it just isn’t the same.

Facebook, you’re not all bad. You have your benefits. I must admit, you allow me to network and keep in touch with people with whom I normally wouldn’t have been able to…but at what cost? Wasting time Facebooking people I’ll never meet has distracted me from meeting the person sitting next to me in class, or has kept me from calling up and hanging out with an old friend because Facebooking is just as good? I beg to differ.

In some form or another, you’ve hindered my investment in the relationships with those genuine people hiding behind the idealistic profiles they’ve made of themselves. Let’s face it, I don’t perceive myself in the same way someone else perceives me. From now on, I only want to know people for whom they truly are; not for what you (Facebook) says they are. I just can’t trust you.

‘This might seem radical, but I have to make up for lost time. This hurts me just as much as it hurts you, but I have to take a stand.

Logging out for good,

Kyle

Related: Who in the World Isn't on Facebook?
The Hyper-Socialized Generation
Technology Shapes Our Personality? Tech Addicts?

I just listened/watched this video by Albert Mohler about the hypersocialization of America in this generation.  It was so alarming and also raised many questions.  He mentions the NY Times report about how children (and now even adults who are following the younger generations example) are losing touch with reality, unable to communicate in person and multitasking to the point of mental decline.  They can't sit and be still anymore, quietness is scary to them they claim and they can't sit down and read a book even.  Dumb and dumber takes on a whole new meaning.

He also touches on the increasing risks involved with Facebook.  Some Christian ministers have set the rule - don't friend anyone that you've ever kissed.  But he questions, if we have to place such rules as that on ourselves then the risks outweigh the benefits involved.  What do we put on the line, even in our own families; spouses and children - when we hypersocialize?  Are we letting in our very demise?  Have we addicted our children to a life of not being able to be quiet and sit still or read a book, such as the Bible?

Does satan laugh at us as we decline in face-to-face social skills yet increase in temptations with online relationships?  Does satan laugh when he has your children addicted to were all they can do is sit at a computer or text all day and are scared of the silence of being disconnected?  Is all hell roaring in laughter as they see a society, sleep deprived, addicted to gadgets to the point they lose sight of reality?  Have we become the very joke of satan himself as we opened the door to let temptation in our homes, that were once sealed off from such?  

The more I read the psychological effects of this new media, the more I hear marriages being ruined by this social tool, the more I hear gossip increasing with this device.......the more I loathe it.  It's like the slimy serpent that has come to sneak its way in, only to destroy and divide.  I'm not alone, as I talked with others recently - they are loathing it more as well because of the destruction of its powers with marriages, friendships and our children's precious minds.  If your family for sale?  Hypersocialization comes with a price - are you willing to pay?

He ends with the challenge - how do we become connected AND stay faithful?  Some food for thought.

CNN asks "Who in the World Isn't on Facebook?" and I reply, "My family and I and close friends".  The article I came across today was disheartening to me.  Not only because, I've watched others lose their morals on Facebook but also because 3 people we know left their spouse after entering the Facebook world.  Those things have only warned me of the dangers involved.

Am I really that odd?  Am I so socially unacceptable to the majority that I'm some kind of kook for not being on Facebook?  Am I peculiar maybe?  Is that what I have to join to be accepted and liked by others?  Why are those without divided from those within?  Does it promote cliquish behavior?  Does it cause division?  Is it of the right spirit?  Is it expedient?  Can anyone ever set rules on what you shouldn't do on facebook?

I came across and excellent on article on "Should Christians be on Facebook" by R.C. Sproul Jr.  He makes some very valid points and challenges your thinking.  According to the Bible, Paul states that all things are lawful for we as Christians, but not all things are expedient.  Simply put - it isn't sin but it could be a weight, idol or lead to sin.  Same with all other things of course but what other area do you put out your first and last name, location, job, who your friends and family are, where you grew up, went to school and so forth?  I was able to show my sister that I could easily steal her identity knowing nothing about her but just what was on her facebook profile.  She was scared to say the least lol.  Imagine how easy for pedophiles it has become to track your children.

I know everyone gets their toes stepped on when you mention ANYTHING negative about the F-word and believe me - I've gotten an earful of it from saying anything against it lol.  I've had people ask me "Are you on Facebook" and when I reply "No", they stop and look at me and then I get this LONG essay on why they are on there and all the great things about like its some sort of god.  I wonder sometimes why it has to be defended so greatly?  I wonder why it causes such a stir?  Why are others so sensitive about it when people, a few years ago, were afraid to even use their first and last name online.  The way some talk about it, even the media, you would think people actually bow down to it and worship it daily.

Here are some great quotes from the above article:

"How, I wonder, can a person take a technology that exists to say to the watching world, “Here I am. Come see about me” complain that the world is coming to see about them? Anyone who wishes more privacy can find such easily enough."

"Is the rush of nostalgia from finding long lost friends encouraging you to be dissatisfied? Are you secretly looking for that old girlfriend? Are you already caught up in adultery simply by wishing you could be sixteen again?"

"is Facebook encouraging contentment or resentment? Are you coveting your neighbor’s friend count? Are you jealous of how many “likes” there are for his posts compared to yours? And are you content with the real life you are shutting out while hunched over your keyboard?"

I have no doubt that if I ever got a Facebook, satan would make sure all the men from my past found me.  It would be a door left wide open for temptation to enter in.  Sadly, we already have witnessed that in a few people.  I don't want to be found necessarily because the girl back then DIED and I became a new creature in Christ.  Hubby feels the same way and quite frankly, I don't want my husband to have other women on his page to chat with.  Overfamiliarity breeds more than just contempt.

However, don't take this post the wrong way - but, alas, some will always find wrong in me no matter what I say or do.  Sadly, I'm in the minority with this viewpoint and I know its not accepted but I will not cower to the social norm.  I can only hope that more marriages aren't destroyed by this social device.

Divorce lawyers reveal that one in five divorces now cite Facebook as the reason and one 35-year-old woman even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6857918/Facebook-fuelling-divorce-research-claims.html

I watched a news story video online and the news anchor mentions Facebook is like piping infidelity into your home.  He said he even knows personally of 3 marriages that ended because of Facebook.

I will end this post with a video of a conservative Baptist minister sharing a story of some Godly young men reaching others for Christ and also a bit of admonition dealing with being a man of God:

You may have seen in the NY Times lately articles suggesting that technology has been found to shape our personalities and even cause problems such as becoming more impatient, unable to concentrate and form "real-life" relationships and carry on person-to-person conversations.  Internet addictions are a real thing and many are addicted and this can be evidenced by the crisis situation that occurs when they can't update their facebook or twitter status.  If you find yourself easily offended when someone even talks against, suggests you have an addiction or that you spend too much time on technology - then you already have a problem.

I'm going to start counting the times someone tells me "Oh, that's right, you don't facebook so you didn't know....."  I feel 'left out of the loop' but is it really that important to know everyone's business that much?  Do I need to know that so and so is getting coffee or this one is picking their nose?  Have we become too personal online yet so distanced in person thanks to our technological lives?  Is it for our good or our detriment?  Is it really the wave of the future or just another fad that will soon pass away?  Sadly, for many, its an addiction and something they give more time to than their own families or God.

I've entertained the idea lately of getting a smartphone.  I'm in love (is that possible?) with the HTC Droid Incredible phone.  I like having access to the maps, personal planner, the fact that it is an awesome camera with flash (8 mega pixels baby!) and video as well.  However, the selling point is focused on facebook and twitter clients - imagine their shock when they find out I don't facebook!  I'm like one of the few in the world lol.  I do twitter but not like most use twitter - I twitter what I think would be useful tweets - not wasteful ones but that is another post 'eh? <--thanks to Candy for my online Canadian accent. 

I want the smartphone WITHOUT the required $30 data package because I would be using the Wi-Fi feature but unfortunately, Verizon is a step ahead of frugal people like me and they won't allow it.  So since, I'm not about to pay for something I don't need - what's a girl that just wants the groovy camera/phone to do!?

Anyway, so back to the topic at hand - technology shaping our personalities.  Have you noticed more stress since you added in more technology?  Was it less stressful when we just wrote letters and mailed them and talked to people in person and snuggled up with a good book?  Have we let in our own destruction?  hindrance? weight that so easily besets us?  Is it really that way or are we better because of technology?  These are some questions that only you can answer for yourself but the NY Times has tried to answer them for you.

My conclusion is this - we are too STIMULATED!  There is so much stimulation in technology that we are like crazy maniacs with information shooting at us from every direction.  We are stimulated to clean our homes, stimulated to organize, stimulated to socially interact - YET, we are so FULL of stimulation that we are disabled when we are "disconnected" with our technology and faced with real life.  So in reality, we are stimulated to do but we don't DO.  I call it "Overwhelming-Disabling Stimulation Syndrome" ODSS - yep I coined the term - so mark it down.

So I wanted to see if the technology I use has affected my focus, so I took the online focus tester and I was surprised by the results - evidently I have great focus and scored perfect on the first part.  Go figure - I'm a (very, crazy-scary) high multi-tasker and always have been but my personality (thanks to my Sergeant mentor in the AF) - performs BEST under pressure.  Not sure why that is but I do and I can look back on my life and see the times I was under the most pressure or trials/crisis - I took to town with a bucket-load of fiery-yielding determination that drove me to success.  Go figure 'eh?  But I'm not the average person, I'm weird - just ask someone they will tell you..........so for the rest of you trying to talk on your phone, text your BFF, snap a pic of your kid at the park and check your email at the same time you drink your latte - SLOW DOWN Bertha!  You are going way too fast.......reminds me of an old country song by Alabama "I'm in a Hurry (and don't know why)":

Chorus
I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

Verses
Don't know why I have to drive so fast
My car has nothing to prove
It's not new
But it'll do zero to sixty in five point two

Can't be late, I leave in plenty of time
Shakin' hands with the clock
I can't stop
I'm on a roll and I'm ready to rock

Oh, I hear a voice
That says I'm running behind
Better pick up my pace
It's a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place

Does Technology shape your personality?  Are you addicted?  Could you take one week off from technology?  You tell me........
In our house, we have decided to start "scheduling" in our daughter's computer/tech time each day and not allow her to be shaped by technology but rather by Christ.  Using technology as the useful tool it is without the idol-worshiping of it that is so readily evident in the worldly system today.