A blog?

During my first years of college I read Shane Hipps' The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture and Flickering Pixels: How Technology shapes Faith and also Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. I became fascinated with the history of media and how it evolves and slyly changes the way we live, think and connect with each other. All forms of technology extend or amplify a natural part of ourselves (body, senses, mental processes, social processes) (Hipps, 2005). I have been greatly challenged to question and think about some of the technologies that I engage, and ponder the power and alteration that they may hold for me. Change is of course not all bad and is clearly evident in God's ongoing creation work. None the less, I value learning to have an awareness of media's role in my life.

In 2008, my roommate and I decided to deactivate our facebook accounts. I did this for a couple of reasons. One, I wasn't paying $30000+ a year on tuition to just waste time on facebook....I had schoolwork that was needing more attention. Second, I was becoming discouraged by learning important personal information about the lives of my friends and family members online instead of through them directly. I hoped that by not having a FB account I would be more likely to learn important stuff from 'my people' in person...or at least hear them share with me over the telephone.

My abandonment of FB was quickly replaced with the discovery of...blogs. I cannot begin to express how many hours and probably days that I spent exploring the blog world. It is a curious cycle...you click on one site, read and soon you have been connect to a zillion other new ones. I enjoyed reading peoples' thoughts, craft ideas, gift suggestions, decorating advice, recipes, and beautiful pictures and the diversity of ways to capture the special little things in normal life. So, thank you bloggers-you've hooked me in!

Now that I am done with school for the time being, I have cautiously decided to try out blogging myself. I take pleasure in writing, and when something interesting, special, creative, hopeful, useful, thought provoking or clearly beholds the fingerprints of God---it ought to be spoken and shared.

So, here is the beginning of my simple attempt to do just that. I want to share through writing on this blog, but I also want to be wary of letting communication, time and energy through a pixeleted computer screen replace the irreplaceable real-life relationships and wonder that I am deeply blessed with.

Grace and Peace to you.