Sunday Reflections on Growth Opportunities...

It's quiet in the house right now and I'm enjoying the time to poke around on the Internet. From the first time I discovered it, to this day, this minute, I remain in awe of the world wide web. What an amazing gift!

I loved being a student, from the very beginning and never grew out of it. I still get excited at back to school time, even though I'm not enrolled in school. Someone else said it, better than I, but the more I know, the more I have to learn. Sometimes I go where the whim takes me, sometimes I go where I think I have the most 'growth potential'. The possibilities are endless and exciting.

These days, the net is one of my favorite tools to expand my universe. Such easy access to any topic imaginable. Last fall it occurred to me how little I knew of the 'cyber community', some of which, I'll be honest, is scary for me. Along with all the great, wonderful stuff, there is some that is not. But, being afraid is very often a sign of a 'growth opportunity' for me, so I've been pushing myself to explore.

Last fall I joined a 'social networking' site, something you hear much negativity about, and was a source of concern for me as a parent. It's interesting, fun, and yet another way to connect with my children. And, turns out, in the millions of other people on that site, are several members of my family and lots friends from all over.

One day in January, I was looking for a new lunch bag for work. (Okay, really, I've been looking for a new lunch bag for some time. But that could be an entire post of it's own, so I'll leave it for later...) I searched the net without much luck and finally decided to enter the unknown and look at some blog entries. Till this point, my only experience with blogs was the one our Pastor used to follow updates on a building project or mission trips. I had a huge OhMyGosh moment. From one site to another, I was blown away by the creativity and fun shared so generously on these blogs.

It's amazing, truly amazing (do you hear the angel chorus singing?) what is out there. I just want to say thanks to all the bloggers for sharing their stories. Like the books in the library, I'll never get to the end, but I will have fun trying :-)