Real life

The internet is a strange "friend." Some of us are consumed by social networks, speaking to others only through facebook, twitter and blogs. Others have forgotten that these "virtual worlds" only provide snippets of reality. Surfing longingly through beautiful homes, fashion pins and hairstyles on pinterest, our own homes are neglected. The reality is nobody lives in a pinterest house!

Others have lost their jobs and families because their "need" for internet gaming consumes their every waking hour. Teens use these social sites to bully others -- as if the face to face bullying in schools isn't enough. Some die from the effects of bullying or because their virtual self died. The internet is impersonal, cold, and untrue.

Yet...

Real life family!

I recently sent an email to the adoption agency we used to bring Ellie home, offering to write a post for them about the attachment and adjustment issues we faced after she came home. They asked to post that email, as is, on their blog and I consented. I expected nothing.

Within days, people responded. Other parents, whose kids weren't easily adjusting to life in a forever family, poured out their hearts, their hurts and their frustrations. My heart ached. Our hurts, dulled by the passage of time, remembered once again as I read their stories. The sadness. The disappointment, not in the kids but in the shattered dreams. The fears, will she ever function in this world or is she trapped inside the hurt forever.

I didn't expect anyone to respond to that post. 

Years ago, when we were going through the pain, I didn't expect it ever to help anyone else.

But God knew. He knew the challenges Ellie would have. He knew the war for her heart and mind that we would fight. He knew the joy of the outcome... and He knew that our hurt, anger and disappointment would one day be used for good. He knew that our journey would become the light in someone else's dark tunnel. He knew!

The internet is not real life! Facebook is not real. Blogs are not "real." But God... sometimes uses them to connect people who would never "meet" otherwise. God used the internet to take our journey to the Pacific Northwest and New York, places I've never been. 


The internet is not real life... but when we, the authors of the internet, write real material from our hearts, God does use it for good, to promote fellowship and remind others of his faithfulness. 


Today, consider what you post in your blog, on facebook or even your pinterest. 


Is it real?