Something about being the wife of a solo pastor in a small growing church, combined with being the mother of five kids (ages 7 to 16) who are all homeschooled lends itself to infrequent blogging. I really didn't think my husband's switch from being a youth pastor of a large youth group in a huge church to being the solo pastor of a tiny church would be that much of a change for me. After all, my role as wife and mother stays pretty much the same all the time. Get those 3 loads of laundry done each day, teach the kids, clean the house, cook, answer a lot of email and phone calls related to the church, and squeeze out a little time to read favorite blogs and websites, well... it makes for little time to blog.
As I have been thinking about the blogosphere lately, I have wondered how much of a benefit it truly is in the lives of real people. What do I mean by that? Sure, it's entertaining to peek in on others' thoughts and day-to-day lives, but what I tend to do is gravitate toward the controversial. An example follows:
Recently I've been reading a lot about the Emerging Church, Missional ideology, and the Emergent Village, etc. There was a little flap between John Piper and Mark Driscoll (er... at least some took it to be a "flap") after the Desiring God conference, but the two men cleared the air rather eloquently, bathed in grace. Quite impressive. Extremely rare. Fantastic to see godly guys acting like godly guys. But why was I drawn to the bruhaha?
I have to admit that I love to research things. I feel like I'm the Cliff Claven of my family, loaded with little-known (and little cared-about) facts. As I think on this, I am coming to the realization that it isn't necessarily my quest for information which drives me, or my intellect, but rather my flesh.
I'm still in the pondering mode about this. It is somewhat troubling. I'm one of those women who find it really difficult to turn my mind off at bed time. My sweet husband falls asleep in moments, and I lay there trying to remind myself that the grocery list and Christian Ed. committee agenda in my head can wait until morning. It frustrates me that I have to actually think about not thinking about things in order to relax enough to fall asleep. I suspect I am not alone in this, and being in my mid-forties doesn't help either (can you say premenopause weirdness????). With my tendencies, is it wise for me to be scouring the blogosphere, loading even more information and debate into my head?
In the spirit of Proverbs 10:19, In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise., I will say that in my experience, "in the multitude of blogs, sin is not lacking" could apply. I point the finger at myself, primarily because in my mild obsession with blogs, I have the tendency to subconsciously allow them to get me riled up about things that in the normal course of a day wouldn't have crossed my mind.
It's my issue. Moderation in some things just doesn't come easy to me. Especially when it comes to chocolate, or coffee, or reformed blogs.
I think what I need to do is do what I'm supposed to be doing at this stage of my life. Titus 2 talks abut older women and what their ministry should be, especially toward the younger women of the church. This "older woman" thing is a bit troubling to one's vanity, so I tend to use the phrase "seasoned woman" in my head. The fact is, though, that my childbearing years are over, my eyesight is failing, gravity is my enemy, and I feel a whole lot better about a whole lot of things. Like my faith, my walk, my childrearing, my personality.
So, what I will try to do on a somewhat regular basis is produce posts here that are encouraging to young women. Specifically, young women who want to live their lives for the glory of God. Much easier said than done.
I know I will still hop around the blogosphere a bit, but I will try harder to not be drawn into theological or political debates. I suspect it will be easier to do than not go for that milk chocolate in the treat cupboard!
Blessings, dear ones!
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