Teenagers, Instant Messaging and Situations

I received this as a forward and I usually never forward forwards but this one struck me. I wanted to read it because I was a child that grew up on the computer and this could had been me. Even more, with our currently culture, this can happen to even more children and I pray never to my own. Therefore, I hope you enjoy this and share it with those that you feel it could bless. Whether the story is true or not, it still sends a message that should be recieved by all considering the times we live in.

Is Your BlackBerry Slowing Down? A Quick Fix

Has your blackberry slowed down? Not as quick as it used to be. Here is a quick fix that a buddy of mine sent:

BlackBerry Tip: Every action on your blackberry is logged which in time will slow ur bb down… At least once a week, hold ALT key and press LGLG (the letters) while on your home screen. Then click the Blackberry menu button and select “clear log” this keeps phone moving 100% faster!!!

I did it and it definitely worked for me. Quick hint for my BlackBerry Fam.

Blackberry Vs. God

I have had my blackberry for a little over 3 or 4 months. The way in which I got it was such a blessing. My old HTC Touch Pro 2 was malfunctioning and I went through 6 Touch Pros. I was about to leave Sprint until they said I can have any phone I want. Well my friend just got the BlackBerry Bold and I had fallen in love with it. So, I said, “Give me the Tour” (yes, that is for FREE).

In two days time I received my tour and was a very happy camper. Once I understood how BlackBerries operate, I fell in love. It was all there: my emails (all 8 of them), BBM, Facebook, Twitter, GMail, AiM, Bible App, Games…it was a beautiful thing. I was elated!

Then, I configured all of the notifications to have their own sound so that I could tell what was going on just by the tone. Oh boy!! It was rich! My blackberry would go off starting at 530 and wouldn’t stop… at all! I would have to turn it off. I read a study where they say that a blackberry user must touch their phone every 30 minutes and I even laughed when I shared it with friends.

I was addicted to the “Crackberry”. I saw someone’s Facebook page. It had an image with a blackberry and a Bible side by side and said, ‘Which one do you pick up more?” Well, I laughed and thought, “Gotcha! My bible is on my blackberry! ” But then I thought: How often do I go to the application…

Now for someone who isn’t interested in hearing, listening, and growing in God it would have been no big deal. But for someone who has decided that they want to grow in God and become closer to Him and have a better life: this is a BIG problem. Over the next few days/weeks, I realized that who/what was controlling my life was my blackberry. That may sound drastic but let me tell the story:

My BB tells me to wake up and shower – I wake up and shower.
My BB lets me know someone is calling – I stop what I am doing and pick up the phone
My BB tells me someone sent me a message – I must look at it that moment and respond.

Now, let’s see how God was doing.

I feel a desire to get up and pray – Oh, I can pray later.
I feel a desire to read the bible before I go to sleep or after I wake up – Let me just check my BB first.

Umm… for someone who wants to grow in God, I was not doing well at all. My priorities were all messed up. But thankfully, the blackberry has an amazing feature, one that has become my favorite but it has allowed me to go back to living my life, live with God, and still be in touch via the phone.

“Phone Only”

This feature allows the phone to only ring, but with no email notifications, no text, and no BBMs. This feature has restored my balance and peace, no longer do I feel the need to respond just that moment because most of the time I don’t get business texts or business BBMs. I can now check my email via phone and only check my BB when I choose. When I am thinking about God or studying a bible verse, no longer does my phone pull me away.

My BB was just a symbol. There will always be an opportunity for something to get between you and your relationship with Christ. The question is, ‘Are you going to allow it and once you realize it, will you try to make active changes to silence all distractions?’

Why Do I Direct Message Your Reply

Twitter is an amazing service and I love it. It has become apart of my life (follow me) but I have noticed that everyone is using Twitter for different reasons and some may not understand all of the features.

Often times when someone sends me a reply to a message I have posted, I may send you a Direct Message rather than another reply. Just wanted to offer an explanation of why:

• Privacy: There comes in a point in every conversation when the topic has become to private for all of the internet to know.
• Bore the People: I have had to unfollow a few people that make their twitter into a public conversation. I understand and respect some public conversation (I do it myself, when I leave an option for someone else to comment) but most times no one else needs to know that level of detail.
• Some Still Use Their Phone (i.e. Text): I know some followers receive my tweets in text messages and maybe some of yours are doing the same thing. Do you really want that person to become point 2 (Bore the People)?

So just a few thoughts on why I choose to DM much more than @.