For more than 10 years, my wife taught at a small Catholic K-12 school.

It was her first full-time teaching job, and was a blessing to us.

It’s where she grew personally and professionally, and where our kids began school. I still smile when I think about the family atmosphere at little old St. Mary Cathedral School.

I also smile when I consider that we were accepted into that family even though we are not Catholic.

Both Betsy and I grew up in non-Catholic Christian churches, and that’s where we have continued to gravitate in our adulthood.

But we always grew to respect the deep faith of many in the Catholic church, and, as a family, we adopted one tradition as our own.

Something we really respect about Catholics is their dedication to the Lent season, when sacrifice leads to contemplation ahead of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Sacrifice always deepens something within a person, which is why we’ve often chosen to give up something during Lent, even though it wasn’t required per our own religious beliefs.

This year, Betsy told me she was planning to give up Facebook for Lent.

As someone who also tends to mindlessly scroll on social media, I thought it was a neat idea. She wanted to be more present, to have more time to do things like reading and focusing on the girls.

Just a few weeks in, she told me she was happier, and felt like she had more time. She devoured numerous books, and had more fun with the girls and me. She was less worried about what others were doing and was more caught up in our own moments. She has enjoyed things like attending with both our mothers the Hancock County Community READ event with “Yellow Wife” author Sadeqa Johnson at the Marathon Center for Performing Arts this week.

She was previously far from an addict, but the small change added just a little more happiness in her life.

I’ve somewhat paralleled her, although not as stringently. Social media is important in my profession, as it allows me to stay connected with my communities, but I’ve logged in less. I also haven’t posted anything myself.

I’d recognized that, subconsciously, I was equating on some level my self worth based on the number of “likes” I got from a photo I posted.

When we first moved, I felt it was important for us to chronicle our lives to keep friends and family updated on what we were doing.

But I feel that, at some point, I had stopped posting for our friends and more for myself and the positive “jolt” I receive when someone likes a post.

I’m a firm believer that we are just learning the effects of technology on my generation, as mine is the first that has been entrenched in the tech world from grade school on. Its power is far-reaching and it’s important we constantly examine its role in our lives.

I was in college when Facebook first came out, when it was exclusive only to students at certain universities.

“Who would ever communicate with people like this,” I remember incredulously telling a friend when she discussed an interaction with someone on Facebook.

I was of course wrong and, since then, social media has taken over the world, disrupting the industry I am a part of and changing everything from politics to warfare.

Taking a little step back has been akin to taking a hike in the woods. The quiet and fresh air have a way of rejuvenating.

I’m thankful for my family’s experiences and how they’ve led us to appreciate the Lent season. And I’m thankful that, this year, we’ve been able to explore social media’s place in our lives, and have been able to retake some of the ground we’ve given to it.

After Easter, I’ll still be online, and I’ll still be using social media for my professional and personal lives and for connecting with friends far and wide.

But, if something comes up that is more interesting and beneficial to me than mindlessly scrolling my phone, I think I’m more apt to jump up and do it.