I stopped posting on Facebook a few years ago…except for various things here and there. I tried to avoid posting anything that might be too political or too controversial, because Facebook is not the best platform for conversation.
If you disagree with me, let’s have coffee and chat.

I started posting again recently because I’m SO excited about the ministries going on in our local congregation. The youth are renovating the Activity Room, claiming it as a safe space to commune together for fun, fellowship, worship, and learning. The children are learning about Jesus, the things he taught, the people he hung out with, the miracles he performed, the places he preached. The children are able to share about the stories of Jesus in basic, wonderful, life-changing ways. I get to serve on the board of a soup kitchen that’s less than a hundred yards from our church property, helping navigate ways for the congregation to be involved in service to the community. Every week is this amazing revelation of scripture and its transforming power in our lives and in the community.  I LOVE being in ministry and getting to share the Gospel of Love with people in creative, meaningful ways. I want everyone to celebrate with us what God is doing.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when we went to General Conference. I wasn’t sure what to make of what was happening, so I signed up for a text message group that helped translate what was going on (in real time). I then very quickly realized that people who weren’t present were not getting the same information; that the media was not accurate in its information about what was happening; that I could do something about it.

So I posted. I posted and blogged about my experiences of what it was like to be there. I got caught up in the sharing of posts of the mood of the room, of passionate speeches, of others’ interpretations of what was happening. It was this kind of addictive way of trying to figure out how to share information with people who weren’t there; in hopes of calming fears, in hopes of easing anxieties, in hopes of…well, sharing hope. Especially those for whom watching the livestream was difficult to watch. Especially those who needed to know that they weren’t alone in how they were feeling.

As soon as I started posting I received messages from people thanking me, saying that they couldn’t watch what was going on because it was too painful; saying that they didn’t understand what was going on and appreciated the information; saying how uplifting it was to know that they weren’t alone in what they were feeling.

People are still sharing things, all the things. So much feeling and emotion. So much passion. It’s SO MUCH to process.

So I share the following invitations:

–if you have been on technology for several days and you’re wondering why you have a massive headache: turn off your devices. Step away from the information and go outside to process without adding more information/emotions/opinions/statements to process.

-if you have been feeling alone in the way that you are feeling about all this, know that you aren’t alone. people from all ends of the spectrum are posting thoughts and opinions and ways to process and act on your convictions. if you need help finding those people, reach out to me and i’m happy to help.

-find someone that you can sit with, in person, and process all this. if hugging if your thing, hug it out. if exercise if your thing, hike it out. if singing or worshipping or praying is your thing…you get the idea. you don’t have to process this alone. if you need help finding someone, i’m happy to help connect you.

As for me, I’m going to do some yoga, watch a movie, and cuddle with some puppies.