In the last while I have been reviewing some of the posts I have written over the years that I have had this blog. As I did I noticed that there have been some topics that seem to come up over and over again. And it has caused me to wonder. Do I write about the same things all the time? Now I have not read all of my posts since I started this blog, just a few from various times, so I may just be picking all the ones that are about the same things. But I do still wonder if I there really is enough interesting stuff that I think about to write posts that are different than ones I have already written.
As I enter another new year and look at how I spend my time I guess I find myself evaluating what I do with the time I have. And that has brought on this review of my blog. Wondering about whether I am repeating the same topics over and over. And wondering about what the purpose of my having a blog is. And wondering about whether I can use the time I spend writing here on other things.
At this point, I do not feel like I want to give up my blog, but I do feel like maybe I am in a season where there are other things that need some of the time I spend on here. The result of that may mean less posts here. Or they may come in chunks of a few of at a time with larger time breaks in the midst.
I am not sure what my blog will look like this coming year. All I know is that it will quite possibly look different than it has in the past - at least for the next little while. I am not even sure that this is a long term change, it may be just a temporary one. That remains to be seen.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
long lost friends
So, it has apparently been a couple of weeks since I wrote a post. It is not for a lack of thinking about posts, but a lack of knowing what to write. Until today that is.
Earlier this week I had lunch with a friend that I went to Briercrest with. It was really good to see each other and catch up on where life has taken us in the 5-1/2 years since we last saw each other at graduation. We reflected on some of the good times we had together at Briercrest. And talked about where we had been in terms of job, friends, relationships, etc since then. And reflected on how, despite living relatively close to one another we live, we have not seen each other in all this time.
Since we had lunch I have been reflecting on things a bit. It seems as though email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have made it easier to stay connected with people. My friend and I had communicated some through those methods over the years - our lunch meeting was even planned entirely through Facebook - but there is something that comes from sitting across the table from someone and really talking that we had missed in the recent years of it only being over the Internet that we connected. Something that was only found again when we sat down face to face to talk.
Now, for those who remember a post of mine from earlier this month about how I do see online community as being authentic, I will stand by that. I do believe that it can be authentic. But, I also believe that it can never take the place of being physically present with people. We need to have those people who can get in our lives and in our way sometimes to get our attention turned to what is really important. We cannot go through life with only online communication being our way of connecting to other people.
This point was driven home to me this Christmas. For the first time ever, one of my sisters was not here for Christmas. It just did not work out for her and her husband to make it here for Christmas this year. So, we used skype to talk on Christmas, and to see each other via our webcams, but it really was not the same. Seeing the two of them on the other side of the computer screen just did not seem the same as it would have to have them physically sitting at the same dinner table or on the same couch. It was great to "see" them and talk to them, and definitely better than not at all, but something was missing. And that something was physical presence.
I guess in the last while I have been reminded of the importance of having people in your life who give the gift of presence to you and who you give that gift to. Because it truly is a gift to give someone when you are physically present in their life - in the good and the bad.
Who can you give the gift of your presence to today?
Earlier this week I had lunch with a friend that I went to Briercrest with. It was really good to see each other and catch up on where life has taken us in the 5-1/2 years since we last saw each other at graduation. We reflected on some of the good times we had together at Briercrest. And talked about where we had been in terms of job, friends, relationships, etc since then. And reflected on how, despite living relatively close to one another we live, we have not seen each other in all this time.
Since we had lunch I have been reflecting on things a bit. It seems as though email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have made it easier to stay connected with people. My friend and I had communicated some through those methods over the years - our lunch meeting was even planned entirely through Facebook - but there is something that comes from sitting across the table from someone and really talking that we had missed in the recent years of it only being over the Internet that we connected. Something that was only found again when we sat down face to face to talk.
Now, for those who remember a post of mine from earlier this month about how I do see online community as being authentic, I will stand by that. I do believe that it can be authentic. But, I also believe that it can never take the place of being physically present with people. We need to have those people who can get in our lives and in our way sometimes to get our attention turned to what is really important. We cannot go through life with only online communication being our way of connecting to other people.
This point was driven home to me this Christmas. For the first time ever, one of my sisters was not here for Christmas. It just did not work out for her and her husband to make it here for Christmas this year. So, we used skype to talk on Christmas, and to see each other via our webcams, but it really was not the same. Seeing the two of them on the other side of the computer screen just did not seem the same as it would have to have them physically sitting at the same dinner table or on the same couch. It was great to "see" them and talk to them, and definitely better than not at all, but something was missing. And that something was physical presence.
I guess in the last while I have been reminded of the importance of having people in your life who give the gift of presence to you and who you give that gift to. Because it truly is a gift to give someone when you are physically present in their life - in the good and the bad.
Who can you give the gift of your presence to today?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
too difficult for God?
I was reading in Genesis recently and was stopped by a question that was asked.
In Genesis 18, God is promising Abraham that he would have a son by his wife, Sarah, by this time next year. Abraham and Sarah were well past child-bearing age by this time, so it seemed like it would be impossible for it to happen. Sarah is listening to Abraham's conversation with God's messenger and laughs at the idea that it would even be possible for her to bear a child at her age. In Genesis 18:14, God's messenger then asks the question:
When I read that question, I stopped there for a while. It was a question that challenged me and that I have been thinking about since.
I know in my head that there is nothing that is too difficult for God to do. But, it does not easily become something that I believe in my heart, something that becomes a part of who I am. I do not want it to stay just something I acknowledge in my head. I want it to become something that I act on. But, that change does not always come easily.
When you hear things from God that seem impossible, difficult, or crazy, what is your usual response? Do you respond with laughter and disbelief as Sarah did? Or do you respond with faith? Do you hold back and stay where it is safe? Or do you step out trusting God, even in the midst of fear?
Sarah did go on to have a child, just as had been promised. I wonder if sometimes she looked back and wondered if that year between being told she would have a child and that child being born would have been different if she had believed God's messenger from the beginning. I know I can think of times in my life where, when I look back now, I wonder if it would have been different if I had believed God and trusted Him right from the beginning. But, I am also realizing that I cannot go back and change them; all I can do is learn from them for the next time. So that next time I believe God right from the start.
In Genesis 18, God is promising Abraham that he would have a son by his wife, Sarah, by this time next year. Abraham and Sarah were well past child-bearing age by this time, so it seemed like it would be impossible for it to happen. Sarah is listening to Abraham's conversation with God's messenger and laughs at the idea that it would even be possible for her to bear a child at her age. In Genesis 18:14, God's messenger then asks the question:
"Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" (NASB)
When I read that question, I stopped there for a while. It was a question that challenged me and that I have been thinking about since.
I know in my head that there is nothing that is too difficult for God to do. But, it does not easily become something that I believe in my heart, something that becomes a part of who I am. I do not want it to stay just something I acknowledge in my head. I want it to become something that I act on. But, that change does not always come easily.
When you hear things from God that seem impossible, difficult, or crazy, what is your usual response? Do you respond with laughter and disbelief as Sarah did? Or do you respond with faith? Do you hold back and stay where it is safe? Or do you step out trusting God, even in the midst of fear?
"Is anything too difficult for God?" (Genesis 18:14, NASB)
Sarah did go on to have a child, just as had been promised. I wonder if sometimes she looked back and wondered if that year between being told she would have a child and that child being born would have been different if she had believed God's messenger from the beginning. I know I can think of times in my life where, when I look back now, I wonder if it would have been different if I had believed God and trusted Him right from the beginning. But, I am also realizing that I cannot go back and change them; all I can do is learn from them for the next time. So that next time I believe God right from the start.
"Is anything too difficult for God?" (Genesis 18:14, NASB)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)