Ok. Yes. I know. It's been a while. I've heard all the flack. And, I guess what I'm saying is that...I'm back. We'll see how long this renewed passion for blogging lasts. I cannot make any one of you a single promise. I just won't do it. I will say..that...well, let me just say it as my first entry...

What Has Turned Me Off About Blogging

1. My Fear That It Will Take the Place of Real Human Interaction
I have heard people talk about how much fun it is to blog. I hear how cathartic it is. I hear lots of things (even after turning 40!) I guess what worries me is that blogging will take the place of real community. I'm afraid it will become a substitute for sitting down with people and having hard conversations if hard conversations need to be had. They'll just blog about it. I'm wary of it becoming a 'virtual' community. I have even heard some pastors talk about how there will be church plants online. You cannot have real life if you are not in real life. And it is far too easy to do everything online. I should know. Ask my wife. She gets ticked at me b/c it seems like my laptop is crazy glued to my pelvis. I write friends, I check news, I keep track of our money, I listen to music..I even have my quiet time on here. And sometimes I have to force myself to get up off my butt and experience real life!

Here is something I feel like God was showing me during my quiet time today...

If I don't have options in front of me that are unique in perspective, I will always choose the easiest, safest, more predictable route. This will lead to my life having less diversity, more selfish, and create a less wide view.

eg...with my giving...
If I am not consciously making myself aware of needs in the spiritual realm, I will only have the choices I see in the Sunday paper. Therefore, b/c missionaries, needs of the city aren't on my radar, I probably won't look at those when it comes time to making decisions with the stewardship of the money God has given me. I will have a "tithe only" sort of mentality.

with x cult exper's...
If i am staying in the cocoon of my home/work and not getting out and meeting new people, my life will be more self-focused and I won't have the ability to understand people's different perspectives and cultures and decision making processes, etc. This will lead to me being more selfish and judgmental.

2. It Doesn't Seem Worth It
Blogging takes up a big amt of time. I have spent about 20 mins just getting to this point. How much can I say? It slows down the writing when you start thinking that way. And who wants to listen to me drivel on about what's in my fridge or what random thought I had? Who the heck would read this anyway?

3. Everyone Has One
Except my mom, my dad, my sister, and my dog.

Why I'm Blogging Again
I went to a talk this week (to wedding photographers, actually)(what was I doing there?) :), and the guy who spoke (David Jay) inspired me a bit to get back into it. A few reasons why I'm blogging again are...

1. It IS some form of conversation
David Jay was talking about how people are afraid in person to talk about real issues in life..sex, religion, politics...and they are tired of pc/beating around the bush sort of talk. They want to get to the meat. So, understanding that some people (including myself at times) are afraid to get to real, truthful issues in person (which is where the danger is...God doesn't call us to blog to our friend when he wrongs you. It says physically go to that person).

That said...it is an ongoing conversation. And it's cool to hear what people have to say, what they are thinking. Who wants to hear what my friend Brandon has in his fridge? I do, actually. :) I want to be a part of people's stories. I want to hear what is going in people's lives. Some people communicate more easily by writing. It's fun to see people's pics (which I hope to have a lot of on mine)(check out my new Flickr bar to the right). So, as long as my blog isn't a substitute for real conversations in person...as long as I'm not writing it when I'm afraid to go and talk to someone...and as long as it is not shutting me out of the physical world where my friend's sneezing or loudness or whatever is driving me up a wall...as long as it's not isolating me from the world...it is some form of conversation and can be a really cool one at that.

2. It's Global
I can keep up with my friends and family and let people know what is going in my/Kira's life just by putting a few pics and a few updates on here every now and then. That is definitely cool.

3. It Promotes New Valley
I really have the feeling that if more people came to our church and experienced it, they would want to stay. But where do you advertise these days? Our church is still pretty small, and we don't have a lot for that sort of stuff in our budget. David Jay actually spoke a lot about marketing in his talk. He recommended a few good books that I really want to read. But one point he made was that people are overwhelmed with content. So just getting info in front of them (about your product) is not necessarily a good thing all the time. It needs to come at a time when they are wanting to look, when they are ready to consume. This got me excited about blogging, networking, getting people excited about what is going on at New Valley. So maybe look for some things coming up in your inbox and at newvalleychurch.org!

What do YOU think? Care to keep the conversation going?

Ok. that is it. I'm exhausted. See you in six months. :)