A tweet.
A keek.
A post.
This sounds somewhat like a foreign language, and in some respects it is. Technology has placed into our hands a plethera of social media outlets. Each one allows us to connect with people we know and those we have never met. We can have access with one or a million in almost an instant. A video on YouTube. A text message. An email.
As social media has permeated our lives I've asked God to help me know what role it should have in my life. At my age it would be reasonable for me to shy away from such a huge learning curve. 'Leave the new technology to the younger generation' is an easy rationalization.
Internet. Email. Facebook. The progression for me has been swift. From a cell phone to a smart phone; a Kindle eReader to a Kindle Fire. Desk top to a laptop; notebook to a playbook. Technology does not slow down and new devices, apps and social media advancements seem to appear almost daily.
In the wake of all the new cyperspace communication opportunities, my heart has been drawn to make use of the tools available to share my faith, my journey and my life with others. Recently, I have been propelled by an inner forward motion to do more to share my journey and encourage others in their journey. I have talked with God about this with severe honesty. Putting myself out there in cyberspace is a huge step of faith well out of reach of my self-prescribed comfort zone.
A few years ago I took a huge plunge into the world of cybespace by setting up a blog, My Grateful Heart. It has encouraged me to step out more along the way. The three most recent (ad)ventures have been this new blog, Grateful by Design, some inspirational photos with messages, and a keek, Grateful by Design.
So part of my severe honesty with God goes something like this,
"But there are thousands of people who blog and have huge followings already,
what would I have to say that anyone would want to hear?
Photos with messages? But all I have is a smart phone camera and
access to a free on-line photo shop program.
There are already hundreds of thousands of really gorgeous
photos with inspirational messages being shared through
Pinterest and Facebook... by people with real cameras,
real skill and talent for photography and real photo shop software.
Keek? Video? But won't people think that's absurd? and tire of seeing
my face? What about the people who think I'm doing this to draw attention to myself?
There isn't anything special about what I have to offer."
Do you remember hearing about the widow's mite? It's a story found in Mark 12 and Luke 21 of the New testament. In this story Jesus contrasts the gifts of the rich and the very small gift of a widow. He sees the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury and we can imagine how impressive that would have been. But He also notices the poor widow giving a much less significant offering. She would not have been impressive in the temple because she was poor and she was a widow. Her clothing, her posture and her countenance would have caused the rich to look upon her with disdain. This, assuming they would have looked at her at all. However, Jesus saw her. He looked past her poverty, her social status and her physical appearance. He saw her heart. His observation caused him to announce that the widow had given more than all the others. I'm sure this was astonishing to those gathered around. Everyone had seen the grandiose display of the rich. Yet, Jesus points out that the poor widow had not done as the rich and given out of her wealth, but she had given out of her poverty. In other words, she had given all that she had.
Facepalm! God is looking at my heart. He knows my strengths and weaknesses. God is not looking for perfection but surrender. The things that delight His heart are not the pomp and circumstance of seeking to impress Him or others with my excess. He swoons over the sacrifice of giving Him everything I have. Of honoring Him with all I have to offer...even the obviously ordinary offering of blogs, inspirational photos and keeks.
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