How to begin, how to begin....
Contrary to what my location says on here, I am not in the Boro. I'm at my grandma's house, about halfway between Conway and Vilonia in the grand state of Arkansas.
I'm posting from my grandma's house because she has an Internet connection. My house back in the Boro doesn't.
That's right...my grandma has an Internet connection and I don't. She's hardcore. (She even social networks more than I ever could have dreamed of doing, but that's another story for another time.)
If you keep up with my posts (Lord bless you for your graciousness if you do), you may have noticed that I haven't produced anything in a while.
With time I expect a fuller picture of my life over the past six months will emerge, but the fullness of that time is not wrapped up in now. But I will begin with a piece.
The Internet connection at my house disappeared in October. I tapped into a wi-fi connection regularly for the remainder of the month, but eventually even doing that became difficult. Keeping up with a life of interaction on the Internet requires momentum. I lost what little momentum I had. I was out for a while, and the longer I stayed out, the easier it was to stay out. I found myself thinking, "Hey, now would be a good time to go get online," and would immediately ask myself, "What good would it do, though? I can't do much in the next couple of hours. Before I could even catch up it would be time to go." So I let it -the Internet and all life attached to it- go.
October left for November to take its place. I didn't get online at all in the month of November. Do you know how huge of a statement...of a reality...that is? Coming from me? Coming from a 20-something living in the 21st Century? I'll say it again. I didn't get online at all in the month of November.
December came quickly after, and before tonight, I only got online once earlier this month to try to take care of some important business (which I couldn't address in that one sitting and is still left undone...another story and all that).
During this time, I have been becoming reacquainted with what life used to be like, both my short one and human life in general. After I lost the Internet I even lost access to a functioning television for a while, which is a reality I had not known in my brief 23 years. (I've lived without indoor plumbing but never without a TV. Ah, the modern age.)
The only thing that has kept me from feeling entirely disconnected to the greater world around me was my cell phone (which was even spotty and questionable quite a bit of the time). Thanks to Twitter through texting, I've kept up with the tweet-worthy happenings of a few of my friends, as well as sent enough updates to not feel like I fell from the face of the planet. I've even texted in a few Facebook statuses, but Facebook through texting gets sketchy. Also, wonder of all wonders, a few people have even called me to chat. Did you know that people still do that? Make phone calls? And talk to each other? With their voices? Just because? Well, they do.
Since I still don't have an Internet connection at home and it's Christmastime and things are busy, it would still be really easy to stay away. But I do know that there are some people out there who actually pay attention to the things that I post (which I consider an honor) and have no clue what's been going on (or no clue that anything has been going on at all), so for them, here I am. If you're one of them, you have my gratitude.
Also, if you're one of the people who have been praying for and thinking of me and/or my family in the past months, thank you as well, whether you've known any details about the happenings of our lives or not. For those who don't know, things have been much more surprising and challenging than I expected them to be anytime soon. I've seen some trouble, and I've always been conscious of a promise for more, but I seem to have been under a delusion that the more was to come later. And every time that I have felt like we five were alone in our tiny corner of the world, I was reminded that there are a remarkable number of people who actually do know something about what's going on, and an additional number of people who haven't a clue, yet think warm thoughts about and conjure happy feelings for us out of the blue anyway, many of whom I know are guided by the Holy Spirit and have prayed sincerely whenever we've come to mind.
Adversity is a learning experience. Generally speaking, I like to learn.
A few short months away from obtaining an undergraduate degree, letting go of the burden of academia, and exploring more of the riches that life has to offer, I began this year in a state of optimism. I'm ending it in one as well. The time in between has been far different than anywhere my imagination had dared to go, and harder than I would have chosen, but a promise of newness is arising. We're in a new house, a new year doth quickly approach, I've learned new things, and in some ways I feel like a new person.
Ever faithful, the one seated on the throne is still saying, "Behold! I make all things new." Amen.
Contrary to what my location says on here, I am not in the Boro. I'm at my grandma's house, about halfway between Conway and Vilonia in the grand state of Arkansas.
I'm posting from my grandma's house because she has an Internet connection. My house back in the Boro doesn't.
That's right...my grandma has an Internet connection and I don't. She's hardcore. (She even social networks more than I ever could have dreamed of doing, but that's another story for another time.)
If you keep up with my posts (Lord bless you for your graciousness if you do), you may have noticed that I haven't produced anything in a while.
With time I expect a fuller picture of my life over the past six months will emerge, but the fullness of that time is not wrapped up in now. But I will begin with a piece.
The Internet connection at my house disappeared in October. I tapped into a wi-fi connection regularly for the remainder of the month, but eventually even doing that became difficult. Keeping up with a life of interaction on the Internet requires momentum. I lost what little momentum I had. I was out for a while, and the longer I stayed out, the easier it was to stay out. I found myself thinking, "Hey, now would be a good time to go get online," and would immediately ask myself, "What good would it do, though? I can't do much in the next couple of hours. Before I could even catch up it would be time to go." So I let it -the Internet and all life attached to it- go.
October left for November to take its place. I didn't get online at all in the month of November. Do you know how huge of a statement...of a reality...that is? Coming from me? Coming from a 20-something living in the 21st Century? I'll say it again. I didn't get online at all in the month of November.
December came quickly after, and before tonight, I only got online once earlier this month to try to take care of some important business (which I couldn't address in that one sitting and is still left undone...another story and all that).
During this time, I have been becoming reacquainted with what life used to be like, both my short one and human life in general. After I lost the Internet I even lost access to a functioning television for a while, which is a reality I had not known in my brief 23 years. (I've lived without indoor plumbing but never without a TV. Ah, the modern age.)
The only thing that has kept me from feeling entirely disconnected to the greater world around me was my cell phone (which was even spotty and questionable quite a bit of the time). Thanks to Twitter through texting, I've kept up with the tweet-worthy happenings of a few of my friends, as well as sent enough updates to not feel like I fell from the face of the planet. I've even texted in a few Facebook statuses, but Facebook through texting gets sketchy. Also, wonder of all wonders, a few people have even called me to chat. Did you know that people still do that? Make phone calls? And talk to each other? With their voices? Just because? Well, they do.
Since I still don't have an Internet connection at home and it's Christmastime and things are busy, it would still be really easy to stay away. But I do know that there are some people out there who actually pay attention to the things that I post (which I consider an honor) and have no clue what's been going on (or no clue that anything has been going on at all), so for them, here I am. If you're one of them, you have my gratitude.
Also, if you're one of the people who have been praying for and thinking of me and/or my family in the past months, thank you as well, whether you've known any details about the happenings of our lives or not. For those who don't know, things have been much more surprising and challenging than I expected them to be anytime soon. I've seen some trouble, and I've always been conscious of a promise for more, but I seem to have been under a delusion that the more was to come later. And every time that I have felt like we five were alone in our tiny corner of the world, I was reminded that there are a remarkable number of people who actually do know something about what's going on, and an additional number of people who haven't a clue, yet think warm thoughts about and conjure happy feelings for us out of the blue anyway, many of whom I know are guided by the Holy Spirit and have prayed sincerely whenever we've come to mind.
Adversity is a learning experience. Generally speaking, I like to learn.
A few short months away from obtaining an undergraduate degree, letting go of the burden of academia, and exploring more of the riches that life has to offer, I began this year in a state of optimism. I'm ending it in one as well. The time in between has been far different than anywhere my imagination had dared to go, and harder than I would have chosen, but a promise of newness is arising. We're in a new house, a new year doth quickly approach, I've learned new things, and in some ways I feel like a new person.
Ever faithful, the one seated on the throne is still saying, "Behold! I make all things new." Amen.
