Esther 8:5 (partial) If it please the king, and if I have favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes,

Who is your target audience? There is at this time a reduction in the number of millennials participating on social media. Why that is happening is undetermined. I can guess and it might have something to do with being targeted. This younger crowd prides themselves as being free thinkers, innovative, social trend setters and not followers. They are more likely to break from routine just because it has become routine.

It is complicated and I do not offer an easy answer. What I will tell you is what I have observed on the edges of my social media screen. There is a flurry of pictures and words used to entice viewers away from the social page to special interests. There those pages are bombarded with advertising and even more opportunity for exploring more varied interests.

All of those pages contain popup ads which if you do not have effective popups blockers, will dominate your viewing, throwing distracting content which is running you into a rabbit hole you did not choose to follow.

As one millennial put it, “They are wasting my time.” The facts are clear, those who create those eye catching adventures are searching for an audience who fits their financial plan. No one goes through this much trouble without the expectation of return on investment. So who gets caught in this vortex of advertising? As expected, those with disposable income. That is not the millennial generation.

The more I observe this tendency the more I pay attention to catch words and photos. If you click on any one of these links, the next time you are on line, the photo will change but the catch words remain the same.

Words are just that powerful.

Proverbs 6:15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

I had plans. Suddenly those plans have been dashed. Am I at a loss for a remedy? Probably not but it does not feel that way. I still have choices but none of them include even the slightest resemblance of my original plan.

As I searched out the scriptures this morning to discover my part in this calamity, I see neglect on my part. I’ve focused on what I believe I must do for my love to the point I have neglected my own wellbeing.

Good intension aside, what do I do about these feelings of failure? Can I see myself in the surrounding text? If I am honest with myself yes, a little. Not that I have overtly intended mischief but isn’t neglect of responsibility a kind of mischief?

A few of my readers know what I’ve being going through these past five months. I’ve tried to keep this out of my devotionals, partly because it is personal and painful, partly because it doesn’t relate to your spiritual growth, but to be honest, I am at a loss for words. I have often turned to the book of Job, read his plight and became determined not to sound like that. As raw and painful as his words are, they were honest.

On a human level, if I neglect my own wellbeing to the point of ruin, who will be here to take over my caretaking? No one? I do not know, I have not asked, nor do I want to ask. I am afraid of the answer. It seems the lesson here is clear on one point, I care about her more than I care about myself. That sounds noble but where is nobility if I fail her when I fall?

Lord light the way, that I might follow your plans and not mine own.