The Networking of My Life

Facebook is incredible.  I know there are tons of people out there screaming about privacy, etc. but as the user if you pay attention these things are easily taken care of.  You, as the USER have to be more aware of  your surroundings.  Don't just click on every link, if something sounds too good to be true it probably is, and if you don't want everyone seeing your details don't leave the settings that way.  The part that is really cool is that i had a friend in High School who i would hang out with a lot.  Some of things we did were not all that good, but we were friends.  When i shattered his nose (broken in seven places) over a misunderstanding he never told his mother (thanks, and ai am really sorry for that, TYNIE).  He told her it was an accident.  Well, shortly after he came to my wedding, he kind of faded out of the scene.  Later attempts to find him were not very successful ~ granted i am NOT a Private Investigator.  Out of the blue i got a friend request from him on Facebook a few days ago.  Awesome!  We may never by 'tight' friends again, but it is good to catch up with him.

Speaking of Facebook, i have been having a hard time feeding my Flair addiction of late, and this has actually bummed me out some (TULIP ~ i have already admitted i have an addiction, but i am just not ready to commit to treatment yet ;-) ).  I "only" have a little more than 725 pieces of flair, and over 6,100 points. 8)  I really like collecting the various pieces of flair because they are sort of snapshots to things that interest me.  For example i went out of my way and made sure i had one piece of flair representing each of the 32 NFL teams.  I also have one of each Bobblehead from Fallout 3.  Sometimes i will go through phases, like looking for samurai themed ones, or a favorite musician.  I have slowly been "categorizing" them in folders so that it is easier for me to use them here on my blog.  I work hard to not have duplicates, especially ones that have quirky sayings on them, but some i will have variations on a theme such as thunderstorms, or Dr Pepper.  Recently though, i have "purchased" (using my surplus of flair points) another background (or dozen) just for a new "series" of buttons i have been picking up.  The Mice from MouseHunt.

MouseHunt is not quite a new addiction, but obsession might be close.  This is a unique game on Facebook in that you do not have to have a ton of "friends" to do well or watch your back.  People are not out stealing your supplies or sabotaging your efforts.  It is you, the hunter, versus the mice of the game.  You have to figure out what combination of trap and cheese to catch the mice.  There are different types of traps for different types of mice, and not all mice are attracted by the Gouda.  There are a lot of different areas to hunt in, new clues to find, new items to construct, etc.  It is also a game that i do not have to play obsessively.  I can perform one hunt and let the game go for at least 24 hours before it stops to wait for me to come back.  MouseHunt is a fun game that fits me pretty well.  So far i have captured only 32 out of the 165 different kinds of mice.  This might take me a while. 8)

Between Blogger, Facebook and Google Alerts, i am pretty much as connected as i want to be.  I don't feel that i am overly subscribed, but i am connected and i receive information on the things that interest me.  For example, i do not just get alerts and blog updates about TRON, or Shadowrun.  I get blog updates from several men and organizations that i am spiritually fed by (in a supplemental sort of way).  One blog i follow, both through Blogger and NetworkedBlogs on Facebook, is CJ Mahaney's view from the cheap seats & other stuff.  To be honest, some of the posts are over my head, but a recent three part series i really admired.  It was posted by Dave Harvey and the title of the series is Patience, Pace, and Church Planting.  I admire this series because God has allowed me to witness at least three instances where churches were not being led well but had been managed in the name of expediency.  SGM does not plant new churches just to plant them and add another group of members under their banner.  They take their time, they are thoughtful, and they are deliberate in how they proceed.  You see, for years i had lived in Frederick, MD and was driving to Gaithersburg, MD in order to attend the church i thought God wanted my family to attend.  At the same time i was convinced that God wanted SGM to plant a church in Frederick, MD.  I wrote a couple of letters, and even had at least one face to face meeting with the Pastors, but the timing was not right.  Not yet.  Five years later, still no church plant and my family was moving once more.  Not long after we moved, SGM announced that they would be planting a church in the very city i had been praying for.  It was God's timing, not mine or the Pastor's or anyone else's.  And now Sovereign Grace Church of Frederick is flourishing, and that is an awesome thing.  For almost the past year God has been putting on my heart a desire to approach SGM once again.  To be honest, i have been scarred to even write the letter - despite GUNNY's encouragement.  I think, starting immediately, i will go to my knees in prayer.

On a side note, in my researching for background information on an upcoming character for my short stories, i impulsively took a moment to write an author about how much i enjoyed a recently released book (Shadow King), as well as an upcoming release (Path of the Warrior ~ which looks like it is the 1st part of a trilogy! wOOt!).  I also dared to ask a few questions about the Eldar of Warhammer 40,000, since he has been involved with this particular race and game system for a long time.  Would you know he wrote back!  Totally cool.  He thanked me for the encouragement, and he answered my questions.  I think, that maybe, i need to learn to have a little more courage when i am pursuing the things that matter to me.  Perhaps there is a lesson there about the church plant as well...