I added a few updates to my blog (my next goal will hopefully be creating a "cutest blog on the block" background. My blog looks so plain!) I put a few more blogs on my blog list, and a couple more links to web sites that I like. I joined Catholic Mothers Online, and hopefully I'll add that blogroll soon as well.
I've been connecting with people online for a number of years, ever since I joined Oprah's Book Club and started chatting about books with folks from all over the world. That connected me with another internet book club about three years ago, and I still have online conversations with some of those ladies from time to time. Our group has used several different web sites over the years; currently we're on Goodreads. (You can check this group out here; right now they're reading Middlemarch andThe Edge of Winter. I'm not reading those, so I haven't been in on their discussions in a while.)
Not long after I started connecting online with other people, my husband and I had a long conversation about what was appropriate information about ourselves to post on a public site, and what not to post. We decided that we would avoid posting anything that would make it possible for someone to figure out who we were and where we lived. We're mostly concerned about our kids' safety, and we want to set a good example for their Internet use as well. For kids it's especially important not to arrange face-to-face meetings with anyone they've met online. Some of my online friends have visited each other after meeting on the Internet; I havent' personally met any of my online acquaintances. Again, we're trying to practice what we preach, and keep our family safe. (Heck, as it is our kids aren't allowed to have Internet conversations with anyone they don't already know.)
Now that I'm blogging, I'm trying to use the same guidelines for myself that I use on other public sites. Technically, anyone with a computer can view my blog (although I can't seem to find it on Google even though I registered--note to self, check that out). I LOVE reading blogs from people who post pictures of their families and share the ups and downs of their everyday lives. Right now I'm not ready to do that here. (I did update my profile by adding "Virginia" to the location; now you know what state I live in. In one post I already gave away the town I came from.)
One thing I have learned: being online with certain people long enough helps me to get a general idea of what kinds of things I'm comfortable sharing with them. For most of my online friends, I would have no qualms about sharing pictures of my kids, and other things about myself like where I work, where my kids go to school, things about the city where I live, etc. In fact, I've added a few friends to my Facebook page who I met online--people who I enjoy conversing with and I am 100% confident that they're good and trustworthy folks.
I want to have the chance to share more of myself with you, so here's what I've decided: If you want to be my Facebook friend, leave a comment here telling me so. (Be sure to include your email if it isn't already on your Blogger profile. I haven't published mine.) I'll email you my FB username (or if you want to leave me yours, that would be fine, too) so we can find each other, IF:
1. You are a regular follower of my blog; AND
2. I know you well enough to be reasonably sure you're a "safe" person.
Just be patient with me, and if I don't add you right away or at all, it isn't that I don't like you; it's just that I'm a little skittish, and I probably just want to get to know you a little better first. (I just realized that I sound like a girl talking to a guy who's pressuring her to go to second base! LOL!)
Thanks for listening! Blogging has surprised me by connecting me with so many wonderful people, many of whom are Catholic mothers just like me. I hope and pray that I may be able to meet some of you in person someday, but for the moment I'm keeping my cyber-friendships and my personal, face-to-face friendships seperate. One step at a time! :D
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What's Going On Here??
I've been distressed by things that have been on the news recently.
First, the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Scott Roeder, Tiller's alleged killer, supposedly identified himself as pro-life. The fact is, he's nothing but a cowardly, mentally unstable murderer who, by walking into a church and gunning down an abortionist, has now made it harder for the true pro-lifers to do our job. I will say this: Dr. Tiller was NOT a martyr and a hero, as many pro-choice people claim. He killed babies and made big bucks doing it. His practice of giving unborn children lethal injections and then delivering them stillborn helped no one. Still, no one has the right to kill anyone who performs such acts. We must pray for them, that one day they might realize the seriousness of their crimes against humanity and change their ways. It happens. And, we must continue to stand up for the little ones who cannot speak for themselves.
Yesterday, another deranged killer walked into the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. and killed a security guard. If his colleagues hadn't acted as quickly as they did to stop him, he might have killed dozens more. His motive? He hates Jews. I still can hardly believe there are people out there with such prejudices. How does a person harbor so much hatred toward any group of people? Let's pray for him, too.
Third, the crash of Air France flight 447. It's bad enough that 228 people died that day (we still don't quite know what happened; I hope and pray it wasn't terrorism; see Patrick Madrid's blog), but today I read this: a woman who missed the flight died later in a car accident. I'm not one to blame things on the devil, but it sure seems like Satan wanted them ALL dead. We will continue to pray for the victims and their families.
And one last thing, which seems minor in comparison to these other events, is the relatively sudden decision made by Father Alberto Cutie' to leave the Catholic Church and become an Episcopalian. I almost want to laugh at this inane spectacle. Here's a well-known and well-liked priest with his own talk show, supposedly giving people advice on relationships, of all things. People called him "Father Oprah," and given his name (I thought it was a joke at first) I'm sure more than one woman called him "cutie-pie" and things like that. Apparently one woman who found him particularly attractive caught his attention, and now folks are once again blowing their horns against the Church for requiring priestly celibacy. Once the scandal about his relationship broke, and pictures of him and his trophy GF making out on the beach out there for all to see, the Archdiocese of Miami barred him from saying Mass at his parish. What is a priest to do? I wouldn't know, not being one myself (another thing some Catholics have an issue with--women can't be priests. I'm not complaining; I wouldn't want the job), but one would think that a servant of the Church who truly wanted to serve her people would drop that gal like a hot potato and get his behind to the confessional. Instead, Father Not-So-Cute-Anymore decides he wants to be an Episcopal priest and get married. He stabbed the Church in the back, the Church that I made the decision to follow and I love more every day. I know God wants me to pray for him.
This blog was meant to be a short one, I hope I haven't rambled too much. Sometimes I get frustrated and sad when so many terrible and scandalous things are happening, but I know that God is in control, and I try to remember to pray for them all. Thanks for reading, and God Bless you all!
First, the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Scott Roeder, Tiller's alleged killer, supposedly identified himself as pro-life. The fact is, he's nothing but a cowardly, mentally unstable murderer who, by walking into a church and gunning down an abortionist, has now made it harder for the true pro-lifers to do our job. I will say this: Dr. Tiller was NOT a martyr and a hero, as many pro-choice people claim. He killed babies and made big bucks doing it. His practice of giving unborn children lethal injections and then delivering them stillborn helped no one. Still, no one has the right to kill anyone who performs such acts. We must pray for them, that one day they might realize the seriousness of their crimes against humanity and change their ways. It happens. And, we must continue to stand up for the little ones who cannot speak for themselves.
Yesterday, another deranged killer walked into the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. and killed a security guard. If his colleagues hadn't acted as quickly as they did to stop him, he might have killed dozens more. His motive? He hates Jews. I still can hardly believe there are people out there with such prejudices. How does a person harbor so much hatred toward any group of people? Let's pray for him, too.
Third, the crash of Air France flight 447. It's bad enough that 228 people died that day (we still don't quite know what happened; I hope and pray it wasn't terrorism; see Patrick Madrid's blog), but today I read this: a woman who missed the flight died later in a car accident. I'm not one to blame things on the devil, but it sure seems like Satan wanted them ALL dead. We will continue to pray for the victims and their families.
And one last thing, which seems minor in comparison to these other events, is the relatively sudden decision made by Father Alberto Cutie' to leave the Catholic Church and become an Episcopalian. I almost want to laugh at this inane spectacle. Here's a well-known and well-liked priest with his own talk show, supposedly giving people advice on relationships, of all things. People called him "Father Oprah," and given his name (I thought it was a joke at first) I'm sure more than one woman called him "cutie-pie" and things like that. Apparently one woman who found him particularly attractive caught his attention, and now folks are once again blowing their horns against the Church for requiring priestly celibacy. Once the scandal about his relationship broke, and pictures of him and his trophy GF making out on the beach out there for all to see, the Archdiocese of Miami barred him from saying Mass at his parish. What is a priest to do? I wouldn't know, not being one myself (another thing some Catholics have an issue with--women can't be priests. I'm not complaining; I wouldn't want the job), but one would think that a servant of the Church who truly wanted to serve her people would drop that gal like a hot potato and get his behind to the confessional. Instead, Father Not-So-Cute-Anymore decides he wants to be an Episcopal priest and get married. He stabbed the Church in the back, the Church that I made the decision to follow and I love more every day. I know God wants me to pray for him.
This blog was meant to be a short one, I hope I haven't rambled too much. Sometimes I get frustrated and sad when so many terrible and scandalous things are happening, but I know that God is in control, and I try to remember to pray for them all. Thanks for reading, and God Bless you all!
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