girltalk - Conversations on biblical womanhood and other fun stuff http://www.girltalkhome.com en ryan@formandfocus.net Copyright 2012 2012-05-21T23:49:00+00:00 girltalkhomehttp://feedburner.google.com 52home http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home475 http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home475 7:40 p.m. The way to my heart.

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]]> Janelle Bradshaw 52home 2012-05-21T23:49:00+00:00 Is Google Making Us (Spiritually) Blind? http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/is-google-making-us-spiritually-blind1 http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/is-google-making-us-spiritually-blind1 I became nearsighted in high school around the time I started using a computer for hours every day at work. I don't know if there's a connection between the two. After a quick Google search (ironic!) I learned that the evidence is inconclusive. 

But I do know one thing for sure: our online habits can make us spiritually nearsighted. Worse than that, they can make us so nearsighted that we become spiritually blind. That's what it says in 2 Peter 1:5-9:

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins." 

The promise of the Internet is that it will open our eyes to new worlds. It is supposed to make us more connected, more efficient, more knowledgable. And it can! But this verse tells us that the opposite can also happen. There is a very real danger that instead of learning more, we may know less. Instead of loving more we may love less. Instead of remembering more we may remember less. 

As we stare at our computer screens, we may be going spiritually blind. 

So let's pull out this Scriptural straight edge and measure: Do my online habits make me more or less effective in my knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Do the articles and websites I read online make me more virtuous?

Does the time I spend on facebook result in more brotherly affection and love for others? 

Does my activity on Pinterest make me more self-controled?

Do my tweets help me and others grow in steadfast faith and endurance? 

Do my online habits contribute to a greater knowledge of God's Word?   

If the answer is "no" to any of these questions, then our Internet use may be making us ineffective or unfruitful in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It may be causing us to forget that we were cleansed from our past sins. With every click and view, we may be going blind to the gospel.

 



]]> Nicole Whitacre Is Google Making Us (Spiritually) Blind? 2012-05-21T17:07:42+00:00 52home http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home474 http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home474 8:09 p.m. Recycling Bin/Sock Drawer

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]]> Janelle Bradshaw 52home 2012-05-19T01:09:43+00:00 Friday Funnies http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/friday-funnies56 http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/friday-funnies56 A friend sent me this funny video, and it seemed appropriate in light of our series on the Internet. Although this may be taking it a little too far!

See you all Monday,

Carolyn for my girls

 

The woman asks: "So dad, how do you like the iPad we got you?"



]]> Carolyn Mahaney Friday Funnies 2012-05-19T00:33:05+00:00 52home http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home473 http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home473 7:11 p.m. I mean, really!

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]]> Janelle Bradshaw 52home 2012-05-17T23:09:06+00:00 Line it Up http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/line-it-up http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/line-it-up "But everyone else is doing it!"

What mom hasn't been on the receiving end of this argument from a child? And what mom hasn't o-so-cleverly retorted: "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?"

As silly as a child's reasoning may be, we often approach our online habits in the same childish manner. A new website entices us with its beautiful pictures or clever writing, or a new platform makes it easier for us to connect with others, to receive and share information and conversation. And everyone else is doing it!

We assume (like the child) that it must be OK. More than that, it must be good and desirable. More than that, we must have it, use it, be involved. We can't possibly miss out on this opportunity! So with nary a nod to our conscience or a thought for God's Word, we jump off the latest online cliff.

This little series aims to help us all stop and think. But more than that, to evaluate our online habits in light of God's Word.

As one of my heroes in the faith, Elisabeth Elliot, has said "we can't really tell how crooked our thinking is until we line it up with the straight edge of Scripture." We must hold up the time and manner of our Internet use next to the Bible and see how crooked or straight it is. We must ask: are my online habits dictated, directed, and in line with the Word of God?

Given the pervasive influence of the Internet in every corner of our lives, surely we can agree on the importance of this question. And even though Holy Scripture was written thousands of years before the human invention of the Internet, in the fathomless wisdom of God its truth is ever-prescient. And as often happens when we come to God's Word, we may be surprised by what we find.

So do you have your Straight Edge ready? Let's measure.



]]> Carolyn Mahaney Line it Up 2012-05-17T17:53:26+00:00 52home http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home472 http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/52home472 12:40 p.m. Daddy's day off.

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]]> Janelle Bradshaw 52home 2012-05-17T01:06:38+00:00 Adoption is Wonderful http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/adoption-is-wonderful http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/adoption-is-wonderful Yesterday at lunch, while eating leftovers from my first attempt at Ethiopian cooking, my son Jude told us stories of orphanage life. How the nannies washed all their clothes and shoes by hand and the water flowed like a rushing river over the orphanage ground. How the girls showered first in the mornings while the  boys watched TV--but not on school days, mind you. How he loved to play soccer and tag with his friends. How at night, after the nannies had put them to bed and closed the doors, he and the other boys would get up and play, only to rush back to their beds when they heard the nannies coming. How he ate lots of macaroni and spaghetti.

This morning I cuddled with Sophie after she woke up and discovered that her feet are very ticklish. This little girl is full of life and joy, so different from how quiet and clingy she was in the orphanage and our first few weeks at home. Sophie charges into a room with a yell and has absolutely no concept of "inside voice." I instruct her a lot about using an "inside voice," but recently it got lost in translation. I told her I would give her a drink once we got "inside" and she thought I meant to ask for the drink in an "inside voice" and so repeated her request in a whisper. Oh well.

Right now as I type, the four kids are running around like crazy downstairs because it is Daddy's day off. As my husband recently wondered: how is it that twice as many children make more than twice as much noise? Already, it is hard to imagine what our family was like without these two precious children. I am so grateful to all of you for your prayers and encouragement along the way.

That's all I have to say. Just, thanks. And that adoption really is wonderful. 



]]> Nicole Whitacre Adoption is Wonderful 2012-05-16T19:05:06+00:00