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for the love of the blog

My sister started blogging a little more than a year ago. I started reading it about 4 or 5 months after she started. I didn't even know what a blog was, let alone that she could write html. That was just one of the first things that her blog taught me about her. Over time I began to read her updates daily, and I looked forward to the stories she would tell and the pictures she would post about her kids - my niece and nephew. I also learned many other things about her that I just never knew or considered about my big sister of 28 years. Like her views on politics, Christianity, the growth of her faith, her favorite things, things she hates, and so on and so forth. For me, her blog has been a portal into her life that I had never entered before. Maybe I should say here that she only lives one mile away from me. And I see her and the kids almost every other day. And yet that speaks to the breakdown in communication that I either never knew existed, or I had just become comfortable with. I don't know which; probably both.

Then I started to branch out and read blogs that she reads. And together we found long lost friends in other states and countries. And again their blogs are portals into their worlds that, because of distance, we never would have had access to otherwise. I read almost every week about my cousin Ellyn and her family - their vacations, their hobbies, their struggles. I read about my other cousins and their kids (some of whom I've not met yet) through the blog of my cousin's wife Tanya - all the hilarious and cute moments that their children present them with become moments that I am also blessed with. I read about Camp-friend-Beth's new life on the foriegn mission field in Uganda, and her leap of faith inspires me with each story she posts. I read another blog by another camp friend - Julie Danley. Her posts on her personal walk with God challange me to expand my faith in areas I never considered, and frankly, scare me sometimes. But I am thankful that she is brave enough to say things that are "unconventional" or maybe even "taboo". I read other blogs by Camp-Friend-Grant, who is more political than I am personally comfortable with, but he reminds me that I am glad there are politically-minded people out there, simply because I am not. He is a visionary, and he is therefore many times misunderstood. "Funny" is an understatement. His humor is genius. And because of his passion for idealism, I admire him. I read a local sports blog of Camp-Friend Jeremy. Jeremy encourages me because he is making his dream career come true. And even though he may not realize that he's making it happen, I know that he is. And I know that one day I will see his by-line in Sports Illustrated, and anywhere else his drive has led him to. I read so many other blogs, I guess too many to mention. These people tells stories about their lives and their views, and it opens up avenues for prayer, and allows people to be apart of their lives that otherwise simply would not be due to time and distance. There is a community here - even a family. And it should be obvious at this point that I have been inspired by all of these people. So thank you blogger.com for facilitating, and thank you Bloggers for sharing your lives with me and the world. I have been blessed by your words.

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