Written In Stone or Sand?

I read an interesting article in the most recent Weight Watchers magazine. The topic was social media and how it affects us. The main focus was on Facebook, but blogs and tweets were also mentioned. One quote that really caught my attention was:

Beware of Boast Posts
Too many chirpy status updates from a virtual friend can hurt your self-esteem, says Alex Jordan, PhD, a psychologist at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business in Hanover, NH. If your friend's posts prove more demoralizing than motivating, unfriend her fast.

This made me question my blog. Am I hurting someone's self-esteem with my posts? That is the last thing I want to do. Part of my profile says, "my hope for this blog is to be an encouragement and a blessing, or maybe just bring a smile on a dreary day."

I don't post when I'm having a bad day. This isn't my "venting place." Some may think I am sugar-coating my life or not keeping it real. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams, but let me just clarify:

• I am human.
• I am a Female human.
• I have bad days.
• I don't always want to run or ride my bike or eat healthy.
• I need to pray and read my Bible more than I do.
• I need to mop my kitchen floor (really bad!)
• I have piles of laundry every week.
• At least one load will be full of smelly running and cycling clothes.
• If you cut me I will bleed.
• If you say something mean to me, I will (hopefully) bite my tongue and walk away.
• And hurt, and possibly cry about it later.

Every single text message, email, Facebook update, blog post, tweet, etc., can be retrieved. You can delete it from your phone or your computer, but it is never gone. Police departments, insurance companies, future employers, and lawyers, can all get to electronic information. It is written in stone...

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything,wrote in the sand:

"Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:

"Today my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

Learn to write your hurts in the sand, and to carve your benefits in stone.
~ Author Unknown

This blog is my stone. When someone hurts me, I won't be writing it here. My hope is not to make others unhappy with their own lives, but to be an encouragement. If you know me, you know I've buried my dear brother and my godly mother. My life is not, nor has ever been, perfect. I want to learn from hurts and mistakes, but not dwell on them.

One of my greatest possessions is Mom's Bible. She received it on her 47th birthday ~ my current age. She carried it until her death. It was this Bible that she carried during an 8 year battle with cancer and the loss of Rod. I know of some very hurtful things that were said to her during those years. I know she was very sick. At times she was discouraged. But I counted the many sayings and quotations written inside the covers of her Bible. There are nearly 100 of them. There are only a few that mention her cancer. Written in the stone of Mom's Bible are:

• A smile can brighten someone's day.
• Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its strength.
• HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT.
• I can see to the corner, but God sees around the corner... don't worry (from Sis. Mary Coursey)
• I'm a Happy Camper
• Lately I've got Leavin' on my mind.
• Prayer is the Christian's mightiest weapon.
• Gratitude is a seasoning for all seasons.
• Not the greatness of our troubles, but the littleness of our spirit makes us complain.
• Every miracle begins with an impossibility.
• One who uses the Bible as his guide never loses his sense of direction.
  

On and on it goes. Faith. Trust. Hope. Prayer. Even the ones about her cancer show her faith in God:

• 4-27-90 - Black day for me - but God is in charge. Cancer is not too hard for my God.
• Dec. 3, 1996 - Bone cancer - arms, legs, spine, pelvis - I need God.

Since this is my blog, I'll share my blond moments, but not my bad moments. I want to make you think, laugh, and hope ~ because the God I serve came to bring life and that more abundantly. He's certainly given it to me.

I'll close this post with one more quote from Mom's Bible:

Repeat to yourself and store in memory some good thought everyday.
Look for something beautiful everyday, no matter where you are.
Do something kind and helpful for someone everyday.

What are you writing in stone?