I’m learning that the various stages of blogging… ideas, mapping, drafting, editing, posting… can happen anywhere and anytime. It’s why I love this medium so much. It’s not that I have so much glorious information to share.
It’s the flow and the convo.
I enjoy the fact that I can sit down to lunch and, by the time I get up, I will have posted something unique that the entire world can see. Few other mediums allow that kind of immediacy.
As my kids get older, I notice that they periodically show signs of the adult they will become. A quirky glance. A turn of phrase. Interactions with friends. Independence. They haven’t arrived yet, but I can better picture the young man/woman that will emerge from the more of adolescence.
I hope that others see glimpses in me as I mature in Christ.
As I walk with Christ and read His Word, my actions, words, and thoughts should more closely reflect adulthood. And, though I’ll never arrive this side of Heaven, I pray that I more and more represent the me that will emerge from this temporary life.
A new creation.
My wife, Jamy, and I are rejoicing today. Last night, our daughter, Lydia, accepted Christ as her Savior! My pastor, Derek Holmes, and I talked with Lyddie after church, and I got to pray with her as she got saved.
We are so thrilled that both our children have followed Christ. We pray as always that God will use them for His glory and that they will sacrificially serve Him with their lives.
Words can’t express my joy!
The day I drafted this post, I was driving to my new favorite work spot outside the house. I was listening to talk radio in my car, and a guy called in. He was running for school board representative. The talk host asked him where people could find out about his campaign. He told them to search for his name on Facebook, and that his web address is dubya-dubya-dubya dot smith the number four A B P S D O E dot web dot com (I changed the school district and the guy’s name).
No joke.
Who’s going to remember that?
With an iPhone in my pocket and Google synced everywhere in my world, I don’t even memorize phone numbers anymore. Am I going to remember a long, difficult to recall web address that will only be valid through the election cycle? Even now, I’m not sure I got it right as I documented it above.
It is SO important to think through online properties and how people will find you. That is why on this blog I simply went with my name. The title for the blog is Not a Camouflaged Soul, but as long as people know who I am, they can find me online. My Twitter handle is the same way (@jonwellman), and my new Facebook page is similar (facebook.com/jonwellmandotcom).
Michael Hyatt weighed in on this subject in the first episode of his new podcast here. Check out what he said.
Thoughts?
CEO.
Christmas and Easter only.
Folks that only show up at church twice a year.
Some in Church World like to make fun of them.
Mock them.
I’ve done it.
When you work at the church, it’s not hard to get caught up in that.
Just one problem.
They showed up.
Does Jesus want them there?
Even if it’s only twice a year?
Should we love them less just because they fail in a discipline that we don’t?
Or should we take the opportunity as one or two out of fifty-two to show them who Jesus is?
What He did for us?
How He loves us?
How He wants a relationship with us?
And maybe…
just maybe…
they’ll make next week a priority…
not to be missed..,
because love was freely shown to them…
and they want more.
“I have 567 blog posts in my RSS feed, so I’d better settle in for a while.”
“My Twitter feed is missing the past four hours of tweets. Better refresh and read through them.”
“I picked up this book based on the recommendation of a friend, but it doesn’t speak to me the way it did to them. Oh well. Only 150 pages left. I can finish.”
Anybody else feel compelled to complete artificial goals like that? Do arbitrary timelines abound?
Chances are that there is nothing life changing to read in my Google Reader. My Twitter feed may be lacking a few hours worth of tweets, but there are plenty more to replace them. And a book that does not contain anything I need to read is a waste of my time.
I’m not suggesting we should give up on tasks because they become boring. I shouldn’t stop reading the book because a section is difficult to read. But I should honestly evaluate it for its usefulness and intrinsic worth as a source of knowledge – will I go through something in life that this book will better equip me to process?
We live in a data-soaked culture. There is more information available than is possible to consume. There is nothing wrong with being picky.
Do you find yourself in the same internal struggle? What do you do?
From Sunday School today…
EVERYTHING Christ did, He did primarily for the glory of God the Father. Whether He was forgiving the sins of a paralytic man lowered through the ceiling by friends of faith, healing him later, casting out demons, or maintaining His silence before Pilate, the goal was the same: glorifying His Father.
This especially included the cross.
Not a Camouflaged Soul 