About the Author

Bryan Brooks was born and raised in Vallejo; CA. He is a Father, Husband, Technology Coach, blogger and author of CREATING A TECH SABBATH HABIT. He dedicates a large part of his time to being a care pastor and overseeing the IT / media operations and serving at his local church (The Father’s House, Vacaville CA). Bryan and his wife Karyn, have been married since 1993 and now live in Vacaville CA. Bryan has two beautiful and amazingly talented kids, Shawn and Danielle Brooks.

My STORY:

Graduating from technical college in October 1990, I felt a sense of accomplishment and achievement. For the first time in my life, I was ready to tackle the world, enter the workforce, and start learning about the amazing world of technology. As a direct result of technology still being in its infancy in 1990, there was little of it in my life, and I would say that overall it was definitely enhancing. But over the years, after I got married and started a family, I continued to acquire more technology and adapted my lifestyle around it. Without realizing it, I soon allowed a dangerous transition to take place—the transition of technology as a tool that enhanced my life to a leash that overwhelmed it.

It was August 2008 when technology officially overwhelmed me and took over my life. My weeks and weekends were tied up with some sort of technology interaction. My laptop became more important than spending time with my wife and kids, my smart phone would end up sleeping next to me in my bedroom, TV watching took priority over spending time with my friends, I was wasting more time on the Internet than reading my Bible and spending time with God. The list goes on and on. Technology became the new god in my life, and I was tied to it. I could not see how, if I were to unplug or get rid of some of it, I would be able to function. No tech-free elements existed in my life, and I badly needed a break from it. Constantly feeling a sense of emptiness, stress, isolation, and a relational disconnect from my family and friends, it was time for me to take action. No longer could I deny it, ignore it, or avoid it.

God, in an obvious way, pointed out to me that I needed to set down the god of technology, take back my life, and get some rest. It’s like God hit me with a spiritual two-by-four and woke me up. The lack of established boundaries, the never-ending workday, and the LG (latest and greatest) syndrome contributed to a massively tall pile of bricks that were silently wavering for many years and waiting for the right opportunity to come violently tumbling down on me. Technology had overwhelmed me for a while. My wife and kids knew it. God knew it, and I didn’t want to admit it. The worst part is, I allowed it to happen, and I had no one to blame but me.

And so the journey began…the writing of my book, CREATING A TECH SABBATH HABIT. It truly is a life message for my family and me, I say it is a life message because to me it was more than just the writing of this book—it was a journey of personal change, reflection, and a lifestyle transformation. The journey in its entirety has literally restored my life from the inside out in many ways, and now I am enjoying life more than I ever had. Learning how to regularly unplug myself, set boundaries, transform my behaviors around the way technology is implemented in my life, slowing down and rediscovering God’s Sabbath, His command of rest, restoration, and rejuvenation has truly awakened my spirit and stirred my soul in new ways that I could have never personally imagined.