Social Media Reunions

I have to be honest and start by saying that I really didn't even notice it at first. It sort of crept up on me. One day I'm going along with normal experiences and normal thoughts. Another day I "wake up" and realize that something else has been happening. There's been another dimension to my experience that I wasn't even aware of!

I'm talking about those reunions we are getting to make with the use of social media networks. LinkedIn and Facebook are two that I frequent. I have more than 800 and 460 links and friends on them respectively. Many of those are reconnections. They're people I used to know. Maybe we went to grade school together. Maybe we worked together. Honestly, some of them I haven't seen since we were children. But I find them - or they find me - on the social media network.

It starts a little awkwardly. You have to do some exchanges to make sure it's who you think it is. Sometimes you have to convince them that it's really you. I reconnected, for example, with a woman I truly thought was dead! It was quite a shock to find that she wasn't, and to start having a dialogue on Facebook. But eventually you get to the inevitable question. It goes something like this. "So, tell me how your life has turned out."

The question tends to yield a somewhat predictable answer. We hear of spouses, marriages, children, careers, grandchildren and other milestones. Frankly, most of them are pretty encouraging. I'm learning that these people I'm reconnecting with are well-adjusted, satisfied and living good lives. None of them are rich or famous. But they are secure and content. (I think that's better!)

So I went through a few of these, and they all had what I call "happy endings." Besides the woman who wasn't dead, I suppose the biggest story was the son of an old high school friend. This high school buddy had gotten his girlfriend pregnant and dropped out of our freshmen year of college to go back home and marry her. Looking for him on-line, I accidentally connected with his son by the same name (he is a junior).

I thought at first I was talking to my old friend. I soon realized that this was his adult son - the product of that ill-fated pregnancy many years ago. That son is an ordained minister now, with two kids. (They are the grandchildren of my old high school pal.) And my mind went back to the memory of the conversation we had about the possibility of an abortion. I am thinking to myself as I correspond with this young man, "Wow! I remember your father and mother considering getting an abortion when you were conceived!"

Faced with the choice of having an abortion and pursuing their own desires in life, they instead chose to get married, make sacrifices and raise the child. I eventually connected with the young man's parents and there's no doubt they are eternally grateful that they did not have an abortion. They are still happily married and now have this fine young man for a son, and some wonderful grandchildren. It's a surreal experience. I don't remember any joy with that pregnancy, the dropping out of college, etc. In fact, I remember a lot of tears. But today, well there is joy - and lot's of it.

I don't know when exactly it was that it first started. But somewhere along the way, it became more than just fun to catch up and hear how their lives had turned out. I started to realize that these stories were giving me hope. Maybe when I was younger I envisioned some sort of reunion where I would celebrate that fact (hopefully) that I was better off then they were. I think we all secretly have a bit of that envious streak in us with regard to class reunions, for instance.

But the reality is I am quite pleased to hear that their lives have turned out well. More than pleased, I'm joyous and filled with hope. Quite frankly, it makes me focus more on the long term blessings of God. I begin to see that while God was working things out in my life, He was doing the same for so many other people. Truly, He is a remarkable God!

I don't know how many more long lost friends, peers, co-workers, etc. I will get to connect with on these social media networks. But I have to say that I'm anxious to find more of them. Each one I find seems to bring a story of hope. It brings a story of God's amazing grace, and re-affirms the fact that life does work out, despite its distractions.

I'm praising God for these social media reunions. And I wonder if anyone ever imagined that social media networks could deliver such a fantastic result!

Other Blogs

It has been a little over a year now since I added a couple of nondescript blogs to my repertoire. It began when in 2008 I started receiving e-mails from people who'd read this (Victorious Conqueror) blog. Some had comments. But mostly they had questions. They seemed to be questions about life, about God or simply about right and wrong.

Initially I would answer the questions via e-mail privately. Eventually, I decided there were enough questions to be more intentional about answering them (publicly). So I set up a blog to do that, and "opened for business" in January 2009. Since then, I've been openly taking and even soliciting questions from anyone, anywhere. Most are from Christians. But some are from people who aren't even sure there is a God. But they're questioning. (That's a good thing.)

I've been surprised over this past year about a couple of things. First, the stream of questions has only waned once - back in August. I thought maybe it had run its course and I would be shutting down this (Dear Victorious) Q&A blog. But almost as soon as I mentioned that, the questions started to come in again. And they've been steady ever since. Second, that questions almost always have to do with an interpretation of Scripture. In other words, the people already know the answer to the question they're asking. It seems that they're looking for confirmation that they're interpreting Biblical context accurately. So in a sense, I'm just answering questions that people already know the answer to. Go figure.

I never know what the questions will be, but I have to admit that I kind of enjoy the dialogue. In fact, I often find it refreshing. Have a question for me? Send it to victoriousconqueror@ymail.com. I try to answer one question a day at http://www.dearvictorious.blogspot.com/ - so check that out if you want in on the dialogue that's happening.

There is a third blog going as well. I started it in May 2008. Through the years, I'd begun the tradition of keeping two journals with my Bible. In one, I tend to journal my thoughts about myself. Mostly they look like conversation with God - me pouring my heart out to Him. But the other is a bit of an oddity. You see, as I study the Bible each day (and I do), God tends to reveal things to me. They're not Scripture, but each of them could easily be backed up by Scripture. (That's how I know that they are true!) I jot these things down in my second journal. And they began to look like proverbs ... maybe something that had been written by a prophet.

So in May 2008, I set up a blog to share these little gems with the world. At http://www.moderndayprophet.blogspot.com/ I post a bit of God's wisdom each day. It's always wisdom that I've gleaned from my own daily time in the Word. I've not gotten too much response to that, but occasionally will get a letter from someone expressing appreciation for something that seemed to resonate with them.

With this (Modern Day Prophet) blog, I sometimes think it has run its course when I seem to have posted all the things I've written in my journal. But I try to post a month's worth at a time, so there's something fresh there every day. And just as I'm about to conclude that I'm finished with this little project, I find my journal filling up again. I start getting these little revelations in my daily quiet time. And before I know it, there's another month's worth of postings.

They still look like little proverbs, that might have been written or spoken by a Biblical prophet. I have taken some of those spiritual gifts assessments to see how God has gifted you. I always come up strongest in the gift of prophecy and other speaking gifts. Am I a modern day prophet? Seriously, it's a claim I wouldn't care to make. But I'm getting e-mails from people all over the world, now talking about this little blog of proverbs that I'm posting every day.

They say that social networks are the communication of the future. I'm not sure I believe it. I am on those networks. But frankly, I see more activity going on with this blog (Victorious Conqueror) and it's two "offspring" blogs, Dear Victorious and Modern Day Prophet. It's then I realize that God is in charge of all things, including the blogs and social networks!

Check 'em out:
http://www.dearvictorious.blogspot.com/
http://www.moderndayprophet.blogspot.com/