Thankful for FACEBOOK...

I missed a couple of posts over the weekend, which means I have lots to be thankful for!  I'll try to catch up with the next few posts.  I am thankful for FACEBOOK!  I know that sounds so crazy and probably shallow, but keep reading.  I'll never forget my sister roping me into this world of Facebook about this time 4 years ago.  I was grieving a failed adoption.  We had gone to the hospital in St. Louis to bring home a sweet baby boy who had some medical pretty significant medical issues.  When we arrived, we learned that the baby was showing signs of being much healthier than was expected (Thank You Jesus!) and his biological parents could not part with him.  We can look back on that instance and be incredible grateful for God's sovereign hand, but during that time there was grief.  Rebekah had been on Facebook a little while and convinced me it would be fun to connect with a few people I hadn't heard from in years.

Oh My!!! I remember how addicting it was at first.  Do you remember those first few weeks when people would noticed you were on FB and would friend you?  It was exciting to see who in the world you could connect with from years gone by and what they were up to now.  This connection, this community of people who at one time or another had influenced me, was a huge blessing during the valley I was walking through.  And they had no clue!

I've watched over the years since, and I've witnessed community coming together over and over during times of hurt and loss, celebration and accomplishments.  I've watched friends shower words of encouragement and love over the loss of someone special.  I've seen people struggle through sickness and have thousands of friends and complete strangers praying for them all across the world.  I've seen hundreds of sweet adorations over new baby pictures and hundreds of Birthday well wishes.  I love that friends ask for prayers and I get the opportunity to pray for friends I would've never otherwise had.  

I love the community that FB provides.  I DO believe that a live-in-person hug is way better than a "Like" and so I will never give up dinners with friends, parties, and random pop-in visits.  But I am so thankful for a FB community that allows me to keep up with friends and family in ways I would've never had the chance to.