Hey Friend,
There are some things that I like about the internet and social media. For example it has allowed me to write a blog about the God I love and it travels to places, quite frankly, I have had to look up to see where they are on the globe.
I have been so very blessed by getting to know and pray for readers in cities and countries I may never get a chance to visit. I've also been prayed for by so many kind people. I started this blog to bless others, and as it often works in God's economy, I have been the one who has truly been blessed.
My husband, of five months, and I are both very thankful for Facebook. Yes, it sounds kind of hokey when people ask how did you meet, but the truth of the matter is that we were friends in high school back in Pittsburgh. Considering that we had a graduating class of close to 800, we didn't know each other really well. Said husband will admit to a bit of a crush, but intense fear of rejection kept him from asking me out. Enter Facebook...30+ years after the fact and we caught up with each other and, well, the rest is history.
Now that we're all warm and fuzzy, let me share another story...My husband and I decided to celebrate our marriage with a wonderful honeymoon in the tropical island paradise known as Antigua. We purposely decided to go "sans technology" (no technology). Even the smart phones were left behind. We did things the old-fashioned way; we gave everyone with a need to know the resort's phone number and our room number and said call only in case of emergency! It was a SPLENDID week!! We were totally "unplugged" and it was fabulous!
Other honeymooners, however, did not share in our bliss. Ironically I passed quite a few couples seated beside each other at the beach or around the pool and they were all individually engrossed in their separate smart phones. I seriously wanted to go up to several of them, pluck the phone out of their hands, throw it in the water and say, "Talk to each other, communicate, interact, go enjoy this wondrous paradise and work of God's hands!!"
Okay, I'll get off my soap box, but sometimes I miss the good old days of no technology. Obviously there is a need to find a balance. What do we balance this cyber drive with? How do we quench our thirst for community?
I loved an article by Tsh Oxenreider over at www.incourage.me. It was entitled, "Faces Over Facebook, People Over Pixels". The gist of the article as you might guess was that we need to balance our Facebook friends with real flesh and blood. This morning, two of my good friends and I gathered at Starbucks and to feel the warm touch of my friends' hands as we prayed over our breakfast was a balm to my soul. I needed that touch.
Similarly, there are amazing photos of God's world on the internet, but nothing does it justice like getting out there and exploring it with your own five senses. Many of you have prayed for me as I have healed from foot surgery. It's been five weeks since I have walked past the end of my driveway. This morning, my heart was light as I leashed up Zoe and joined my husband and Topper on a short morning walk.
The sun shone brighter. I took in the colors of the flowers and the smell of the wild honeysuckle like it was the first time. Nothing beats getting out in God's creation and experiencing it first hand. It was an ordinary Thursday, yet it was extraordinary.
Gloria Gaither says it more eloquently: "Jesus intended for us to be overwhelmed by the blessings of regular days. He said it was the reason he had come: 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.'"
Abundance is marked by a life of balance.
Normally my posts are infused with much more scripture. Scripture keeps me balanced and well....that's a whole separate post. This week I am just infusing myself with His world now that I can walk without my boot.
I encourage you to part with the pixels and pick up God's word or get out in His world...
It's truly a balance. Finding that balance is the hard part, but it is possible. It takes determination, but I know that you can do it. Thank you for just letting me ramble on this week. My recuperation has had me shut off more from the world and I just needed to chat a while. I had an excess of words that I just had to use up.
Now before I hit "Publish" I will pray what I always pray:
May the words of my mouth
And the meditations of my heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight
O Lord.
In His love,
Bev
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