The Wonderful World Of Blogging: Part 2

I feel like this sounds weird, but I love having friends.

I’m so very thankful that God designed this thing called friendship. Shauna says it perfectly (she would!) in my opinion.

“Friendship is acting out God’s love for people in tangible ways. We were made to represent the love of God in each other’s lives, so that each person we walk through life with has a more profound sense of God’s love for them. Friendship is an opportunity to act on God’s behalf in the lives of the people that we’re close to, reminding each other who God is. When we do the hard, intimate work of friendship, we bring a little more of the divine into the daily life.”

(Cold Tangerines, page 49)

So what does this have to do with blogging?

My experience is that being a part of this bloggy world has allowed me to stay close to friends and family that live far away. For instance, we LOVED our small group in Grand Rapids and miss them terribly. But as any of you who have tried this with me have found out, I’m a pretty terrible correspondent. (Erika, you know what I mean!) I deeply care about my friends and family that live all over the world, but for some reason don’t do a good job of calling. Or emailing. Or even facebooking. But it is all different with blogging. I don’t think I’d be able to stay nearly as close to those friends and others without the continued connection through the blog world. Funny stories about those babies I used to get to snuggle? I still hear about them. Travel to foreign lands? I still get to hear all about it, and get to see pictures. And, as I mentioned yesterday, I still get to learn about the things God is teaching them.

While I may have predicted being better able to stay in touch with existing friends, I was definitely surprised when I started to make new friends in the blog world. There are two true bloggy friends I’ve made so far, and I’ve been so blessed by them both. For months I’d read their blogs and love their stories and then comment from time to time, and they’d read my blog and comment back. Such sweet, honest, FUNNY posts. And on a spiritual level I’ve been truly encouraged by them, in both their own posts and their comments. I knew these people could be my “real” friends, not just my “bloggy” friends.

Then last month I met one! And we hit it off (at least, in my opinion!) Couldn't stop chatting and laughing. What a kind, real, and hilarious person I met! Just like I knew she’d be. She has a heart for God and sense of humor about life… and is delightful to spend time with. I so enjoy having Sarah as a real friend, in addition to a bloggy friend.

And then last week, I met another bloggy friend! Jenni was in Bloomington visiting family, and joined me for a cup of Starbucks last Saturday morning. And I’m very thankful she put up with my questions about her life and family! Our coffee “date” went by way too fast. I really enjoyed getting to know her in a face-to-face way - another real connection with an online friend! It was truly a joy to spend time with such a sweet, open, and insightful person.

It is honestly a little odd actually meeting someone for the first time that you actually, on some level, know already. And in both cases, I loved it. Putting real life personalities with blogs was super fun in both of these cases.

Mom, go ahead and check out Short Stop and Swimming in Sugar and Spice, and you’ll soon realize they are neither:
#1 Crazy, or
#2 Murderous.

So there you have it. My favorite thing about blogging is making and keeping and enjoying friends.