Is it live or is it Internet?

With this relatively new blogging hobby of mine, I've found that I sometimes have trouble keeping track of the ongoing cyber-conversations I get involved in. For example, I saw my friend Martha at church today, and we had a nice chat about our kids and small groups and so on. But I was already in the van before I realized that during the whole conversation I was holding Jackson's hourglass sippy cup that I'd purchased on her recommendation. Had the sippy cup suggestion been given in a conventional face-to-face way, I'm sure I would have brought the conversation full circle--"yeah, thanks for the tip, it's a great cup, even without the awesome changes-colors-when-cold thing", but because it was shared in blog comments I just didn't think to bring it up. Does this disconnect happen with anyone else?

And another conversation dynamic I've noticed since starting this blog is that I am more self-concious than ever about repeating myself. I typically know who reads my posts based on the comments I get, but I don't want to presume that someone is a "regular" just because they commented one time. And pretty much what I blog about is what you get in person with me, so I feel like a broken record when I try to answer the question: "So, how are you doing these days?"

To change the subject, I've been thinking about phases lately. With kids, I'm learning that it's all about phases (at least I hope it is!). It makes it a little easier to get through something hard when you focus on the fact that it will have an end--even if you don't know when. I like to pace myself too; if I give like something's gonna last 3 days and in reality it lasts 3 months or more I'm probably gonna burn out. But that's my human reasoning. In Christ, we are given what we need to keep from burning out (Isaiah 40:30-31), because he is faithful to us. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." What a blessing to know this. In the Lord's prayer, we say, "Give us this day our daily bread"; I think bread means "whatever we need to get through the day". When we pray, we can ask for this bread with boldness because it's something He has already promised us anyway. And besides, while this current phase may be hard, it really will be over in a heartbeat. Won't I be sad when my toddler man doesn't need me so much anymore?

♦