You've Got Mail

I am an introvert, of that I am sure. Being in a crowd makes me nervous, even just among family. I love people, of that I am sure. I never tire of meeting interesting new people and learning about their lives. Those two qualities make for strange bed fellows in an individual. It's hard to love people, yet be an introvert. I suffered through all of my adolescence because of it. I suffered during my young adulthood due to it. I suffered into my adult years at it's mercy. Then, an amazing and wonderful thing happened to me........I found the Internet!

Now, I have friends far and new, old and young. We chat away the hours on our computers passing emails and instant messages back and forth around the world. Nothing gives me more joy than to log on to my laptop each morning and see that epitaph on my screen "You've got mail". I am immediately excited and can't wait to jump in and see who's writing and what they're saying!
Sometimes, it's a nice clean joke or an inspirational video clip. Sometimes it's an alert to a news article of interest to me and a group of my friends. Sometimes it's just junk mail, but I still like to sort through it to see what I've gotten.

Oh what a different life I could have had if I had had the Internet 40 years ago! Do you know children know more about their computers and how to use them than I do? It's true! After spending time with my niece's children, aged 6 and 8, I am fully convinced I will never know what they know about them; they have too much of a head start on me! Why, if I had had this thing when I was 10, I would have been a social butterfly by now! I hear those not in the know all the time complaining that the Internet isolates us. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

I was bred, born and raised in a small rural county in southwestern Tennessee. I've never lived outside the state of Tennessee. I have done some traveling, but that too is limited. Yet, this middle-aged country girl has friends from almost every state in the union, in Canada, Australia, England, Europe, Asia....I'm a globe trotter and I never have to leave the comfort of my living room if I choose not to! Does that sound as if I'm isolated? I think not!

The computer is like every other invention conceived by man. It has potential for great good or for great evil. What it will turn out to be has nothing to do with what it is, it has to do with who uses it and how they use it. It is but a tool for our use. We can do good and edify and encourage others with it or we can do evil and drag others down. It has been the tool of great encouragement in my own life. I have found friends who love me, who love my Lord and who want nothing more than to encourage and pray for each other.

Without my computer, I would most likely have been sitting at home, watching the soaps on daytime TV. If that's what you enjoy, then good for you. It's not my cup of tea. I like people, but I'm an introvert. Thank the Lord for bringing people into my life via the Internet on my laptop!!!