Things changed when my phone outsmarted me. Once Facebook had a permanent place in my pocket, it became a permanent portal—able to transport me away from my family. Even if we were physically in the same room, I wasn’t necessarily there with them. Facebook was no longer simply a naptime vacation but an all-day form of escapism.

When our children have our intention, they don’t need to get our attention. Andy Crouch explained the phenomenon this way: “An awful lot of children born in 2007 . . . have been competing with their parents’ screens their whole lives.

Lay down Facebook and lift up your face. Put down Facebook so that you might spend some undistracted time face-to-face with Him. Your face in His book: that’s the Facebook you need right now.

Exchange your online distractions for real-life devotion.

When I turn to my phone to copewith stress, I don’t return to my familymore able to handle the stress. WhenI sneak away to social media, I don’treturn to my husband and children more socially available. When I put my face in Facebook, rather than the Good Book, I don’t find the help I need when it’s time to face my family again.

Opening my phone closes me off to others, but closing my phone opens me up to those around me.

Each time I step back from the clutter of the online world, I’m amazed how much time is freed up to declutter my real world.

The ones I love must never take a back seat to those I “like.