Please Be Patient With Me

Anyone who knows me knows I love moving furniture around - at least once every six months. I also move rooms around, which really frustrates my children. So you can see that changing up my blog template is a necessity to my psyche. So please be patient as I learn the ins and outs of blogger, how to add elements, photos, etc.

DON'T BAN THE COMMENTS

I've commented before about why blogging has become such a huge phenomenon. Today I read that some higher-up bloggers are talking about banning comments on blogs. "NO!", I yelled at my computer screen. Blogging has become the new confessional, the coffee klatch, the water cooler.
As a homeschool mom, pastor's wife I have so appreciated this outlet of blogging: 1) I open up to complete strangers about my joys and angsts-there's something non-threatening about that; 2) I speak, somewhat, intelligently (as much as I am grammatically able) about subjects that perk my interest; 3) I'm able to indulge a secret desire to graphically design something (still learning here); 4) I have conversations with people on subjects that wouldn't be covered in my right-now physical community.
Now the comment section has been my joy and bane. You know how it is...you write a post, edit then publish and wait. Wait, wait, and wait. You check your site meter to see how many people have visited, where they're from, how long they were on...you check to see if there are any comments and almost, just almost, the success of your day can be measured by how many comments you've received (my husband and I keep a running tally on who gets the most comments - we're tied). Yeah, it's a bit pathetic but I think we're all in the same boat. Insecure, looking for acknowledgement, ready to be challenged, that's why we blog...get our voice out there and hope that someone is listening and wants a conversation.
So I hope these upper-echelon bloggers don't ban the comments. I don't know what I can do about it. I'm just a lowly blogspot blogger, still working out how to add page elements.

P.S. I just read the NY Times article - some bloggers want to ban anonymous comments because, for certain high-profile, politically-charged bloggers, they can be nasty and threatening. So there is a point. Worth discussion. But I still don't mind receiving anonymous comments --- Hemps?

Brave in my blogs, brave in my dreams

Do you ever have dreams where you save someone's life, speak for truth and justice, stand bravely against the wrong in this world? I do. I often portray myself as articulate, bold, witty and undeterred. I portray, somewhat, the same on blogs - not just my blog but when I comment on others. Several posts ago I wrote how much I love blogging because one can edit and edit until their words are so fine tuned that they make sense. If I were to stand in front of a group and spout off as I do on my blog I would fumble, stutter, hem and haw and basically make a fool of myself. I am much more articulate on this site than I am in real life.

During President Bush's state of the union address he acknowledged the bravery of a man who jumped in after someone who fell on a subway line. No hesitation, no second guessing. He jumped in and brought the man to safety. I wonder if I have that bravery in me. I wonder what am I made of and do I have the guts to hold to my convictions when tested. I don't feel that my life has been tested.

If someone screamed help because they were being attacked, they were injured, whatever, would I come running to their aid, regardless of my own safety (like the man in the subway). I haven't been tested but in my heart of hearts I think I would have second, third, fourth thoughts before taking off in the direction of the scream. "What of my own safety, what if it's a ruse, I have to think of my children!"

Part of my hesitation is born out of the mistrust I think is prevalent in our society. We don't believer other's pleas for help are legitimate. I see this out our church and it's food bank. We've had numerous people come to our house and church asking for money, food, a helping hand, only to find out this is their 9-5 job- visiting churches and asking for alms. It tends to jade you to the people who really need it.

But it's not just for physical cries for help. When I'm in a situation where scripture is used unscripturally, (this has happened when I was much younger during college years), the name of Christ is slandered or an opposing opinion is made...do I stand up and speak my peace with the same gumption and gall as the other's? Usually I swallow my pride and my bravery and my words and say nothing.

So I'm bold on the internet and in my dreams. Maybe those are rehearsal for when the real thing happens.

I love James Bond movies (where are you going with this Barb?). I really liked the latest - Casino Royale. Near the beginning of the movie James is chasing a terrorist through a construction site. It's an amazing piece of stunt work. The terrorist is jumping through cars, scaling almost vertical beams, leaping 10-20 feet off roofs. James is following close behind but before he runs he surveys the lay of the land: what's a possible short-cut, which way up, down, through and then - bang - he moves. No hesitation. He plans, then executes.

I feel I've been planning and (I hesitate to say this fearing something is around the corner that will but my plan into action) have no idea if I will stand strong when finally tested.

Blogging is the New Talk Radio

It occurred to me as I was driving up to the aiport, listening to Glenn Beck on 97.1, and then again today, driving up to the orthodontists, listening to Bill O'Reilly, that blogging is akin to talk radio. The host puts an issue out there and listeners add their view points. The problem with talk radio is the host gets the majority of air time and the probability of someone getting through and articulating their point of view is slim to none.

Now comes blogging...

There is still a host, bringing up an issue and readers who can present their side. But the glorious thing is you have time to hash your thoughts through, save it in your draft file and when you've edited your post to death, publish.

I've only tried a few times in my life to get through to a talk radio program - never got through and only ended up yelling my comments at the radio, frustrated that the world never got to hear my oh-so-profound opinion.

So I blog. But what's going to generate conversation? Controversy, titilation, wisdom. Well I don't know if I have any of those things to offer. I read a blog this past week that said, wisely, write about what you know.

So I'm focusing on the issues for a homeschooling, pastor's-wife, 40-something, continually diet-struggling Christian woman of the 21st century. I want to know how others make it in this world - having quiet times, exercising, homeschooling, loving their children, loving their husbands, loving God, keeping a warm, hospitable home while seeing the gospel spread wherever they make their presence.

Let's start with a quiet time...what do you do and how do you maintain one? I ask this because all my Christian life I've heard, been told, knew in my spirit the vitality of one, but have never maintained a quiet time. I get so distracted by the duties of the day. It takes 20 minutes just for my mind to slow down, shut off those noises and feel focused on reading the word with sincerity and honesty.

Many years ago I heard these wise words from Vernon Grounds (former preseident of Denver Seminary): the ruts of routine are the grooves of God's grace. I do know in the depth of my soul, when I keep to the ruts my life flows smoothly, patiently and lovingly. But then my rebllious old nature yells, "Routine, Routine, that's soo old fashioned, soo austere. Spontaneity is what you want. Don't be tied down to such traditions." It seems my entire Christian walk has been a struggle against my old natures desire for laziness and free-falling versus discipline, patience, and spiritual growth/maturity.

What ruts of routine are essential for you to know the grooves of God's grace?

The Internet is a Wonderful Thing!

Thanks to Ann Bennett I have an airport card in the ibook my husband tossed off to me. Thank you Ann. In the last few weeks of homeschooling I have come to appreciate the wonders of the internet and have been accessing it with abandon. The laptop sits on our kitchen table/school station and is always open. Whenever Aidan and I are studying a topic we don't understand or are curious for more information we turn the computer around and type in via wikipedia or google or whatever and voila! there is more information than we can dowload.
For instance: we are reading Rascal by Sterling North. It's a delightful memoir of a boys summer in 1918 when he captures and tames a raccoon. After a few pages into the book I said, "Hey Aidan, lets find out where this story takes place." Google Sterling North and Boom - there's an entire website dedicated to him and Rascal. Wonders! Maybe I'm a little slow on the use of technology...but once I get started...!