The Power of Facebook

In today's society, people have very strong opinions about everything. From Politics, Religion, Education, Health Care, to the National Debt. Well, Facebook is no exception. You have those on one extreme that totally love Facebook. But you also have those on the opposite extreme that are adamently opposed to social networking. I can see both sides.

Facebook is a fun, easy, and unintrusive way to keep up with your 100's of so-called "close" friends. It's fun to see what people are "doing now", or to see "whatever happened to so and so", or what is "he or she up to". Lost relationships have been reunited. People get advice (sometimes solicited and sometimes not). People get to share cute little stories about their kids. People make plans for Saturday night. People advertise businesses on Facebook. So really, Facebook is ok, right?

But then, you have the other side. The ugly side. The side that can be scary. You have marriages broken up because high school sweethearts are re-kindling what they "once had". You have children that are far too young and far too unsupervised using Facebook. You see many inappropriate rants and raves put out there for 100's of people to see. You have bullying occuring. You have children and adults that never go outside because they are glued to their computer. You have children growing up without the skills to communicate properly. You have people getting on their soapboxes and using Facebook as their podium. I don't want to read negative things on Facebook. I can turn on the news for that.

Facebook for me has become a quick way to keep up with people that I care about. I have 160+ friends. Are they all someone I would like to go hang out with for a day? No. Are they all someone I would chat with for hours on the phone? No. But, they are all someone that I have shared some part of my life with. They all have meaning in my life. I have a sweet memory with each and every one of them. Yes, some of them are dear, dear, friends whom I would love to hang out all day long with or chat on the phone for hours with. But not 160+ of them.

All this being said, I am a Facebook lover. I enjoy Facebook. I love seeing pictures of my friends' families, their vacations, and inspirational things. I like when something I read on Facebook feeds my spirit and convicts me to grow and change. I love reading funny stories. I also enjoy posting my crazy life out there. But be rest assured, you will NOT see me post anything negative, hurtful, or ugly. I do not use Facebook as a place to post my opinions about anything controversial. I just don't see Facebook as a forum for that. Just MY opinion.

I also have a son that I just recently allowed to start a Facebook account. He was so happy to re-connect with his friends and classmates from Florida. But please know that I have his password, I DO check his account, and we Facebook TOGETHER. I am happy to report that he isn't addicted to Facebook.

Now, I finally come to the real reason for this post. Today, I got to see first hand how Facebook can be used as a ministry. I innocently posted today that I can't wait for our funiture to get here and that the boys are running out of things to do with their limited toys that we brought up in the van. Within 2 hours of this post, I had a woman from our new church here in NH drop by with 3 boxes full of boy toys. Do you know how happy she just made 5 people. Yes, 5 people. My 4 boys and ME!!!!! Then, just an hour after the toys arrived, I had a phone call from the pastors wife and she wanted to bring me dinner. Now, when I posted that status this morning, I was only posting how much I will appreciate Friday when our "junk" will be here. Little did I know it would spark this kind of response.

How blessed am I to be a part of my new church family and opportunities to embark on some new relationships? God is definitely taking this family out of our comfort zone. He is testing us in new ways. He has taken a girl that has never lived outside of Florida since the age of 10 and put her in a whole new world. He is good. He is faithful. I am also thankful for technology, like Facebook so that I can keep up with my 160+ "best friends". If you are my facebook friend AND I talk to you on the phone, then you know how special you are to me.