Google: Wonderful or Woe-is-Me?

Google, is just one of the gates into the Information Highway also know as the Internet. There are several schools of thought on just how beneficial the Internet is or can be.

Last month I was informed that I would have to have a root canal. The very words strike terror in most peoples hearts. So, I got the bright idea to "Google it"!
Big Mistake! I found over 2,260,000 references or hits, as they call them, about root canals.

Hooookayyyyy....now what? I've been told the best thing to do is go to the first one on the list. That one was the Wikipedia site. Very informative but it was information similar to what the dentist had told me. So I moved on to the next.

YIKES!!! That was my second mistake! I shoulda lefted well enough alone! Now I knew much more than I really wanted or needed to know.

The question you have to ask yourself before you go web surfing for information is, "Do I really want to know?" Frankly, I didn't, but I didn't know until it was to late to take it back. Thus, my foray into the mysteries of root canals could be classified as a "Woe-is-Me". Not a prediction, mind you, because my experience was nothing like the horror stories I read on the Internet. I'm not going to lie and say it was a breeze, but it wasn't bad. I'd do it again.

This event, coupled with a discussion I had with my very technologically challenged Mother In Law this past weekend, got me to thinking. She (MIL) was listening to several of us discuss the latest event happening on Facebook and remarked that she was just not sure all this knowledge was such a great thing. "Sometimes, ignorance was truly bliss.", she said. You know, I think she just might have a point.

I've heard the same horror stories that you have about kids surfing and finding some really bad websites, the accidental visions that just don't bear thinking about. There again, I see the Internet and Google as a "Woe-Is-Me".

BUT:

I also have been able to find family members that we'd lost contact with over the years. I've learned more about the Scriptures, shared prayers with my on-line friends. I've made lasting friendships with people that I would have never been able to meet without the Internet. I've been able to do something I truly love to do, write a blog and actually have people read it thanks to the Internet.

In the end, it is up to us to guard ourselves from the dangers of the Internet, using care when putting words in the search bar of Google and other browser aids. The Internet is a part of the world, it is now a part of our lives even if we don't own a computer. We have to treat it as we do the world.

We have to use it wisely, not without a large measure of caution. Keeping our children safe from the terrors of the world is now extended to something else we've invited into our homes as we have the television.

Think back to your Grandparents and how most of them reacted to Television. They simply couldn't understand the fascination. The decadence of sitting idly around, watching a box with moving pictures in it was, as my Grandmother said once, "of the Devil". Well, she was right. It certainly is his playground and the Internet can be called the monkey bars on that playground. We all know monkey bars are dangerous unless you are careful when playing on them, but even then accidents happen.

Like all things beneficial, used correctly you get good results, misuse them and you can get hurt.

What is my verdict about Google you ask? It, and the Internet in general, is Wonderful when used wisely and correctly, and is Woe-Is-Me when it isn't. It's all up to you which you wind up with.

Now go out and make this day yours and all for His Glory!
Blessings~
Kat

YIkes! Root Canal!

Ok....today is d-day for that painful tooth I've been dealing with. What? You didn't know I was in pain? Well, I have been for some time and it all started with a little filling that fell out after several years. I didn't do anything about it because it wasn't hurting. Brother! Was that a mistake! Big, Big Mistake!

Now, a couple of years later, that tooth is making up for lost time. I've suffered for several weeks and finally stopped procrastinating. I went to the dentist and as a reward for my delaying, I won a root canal. Oh Joy!

Today is the day I go for this procedure that everyone has been so very kind to tell me all about. (she said with a sarcastic tone) It is like when you're going to have a baby, the closer you get, the more horror stories you hear. The agony, the pain....all the gory details.

I have never had anything done like this before so I decided to look it up. Thank you Google. I found several very informative site and as a result, I feel much less fear about what is about to happen.

Lord, let me keep this resolve!

Go out and make this day yours and all for His glory!
Blessings~
Kat

Life, Love and Christmas

John 15:11-13
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)


Good morning Beloved Readers!

This morning is one of the coldest on record for the normally gentle climate of Georgia. Brrrr.......snow flakes fell yesterday all during the day as the wind blustered around the house. The fact that they didn't stick and stay on the ground made the event no less exciting for the kids of this household, myself included. Just that it snowed in December in Georgia made it a remarkable day for us.

We are entering our third week with no heat, well, no central heat, at our house. We have a very small propane gas heater that does a good job of keeping the living room, kitchen and hallway fairly warm, as long as we wear sweaters and house shoes while home. The painful part of this, other than the obvious cold, is the fact that this heat system is just over a year old and has been down more than up!

Lesson learned here...go with a reputable company that you can call when things go wrong. We've not heard from the person that installed it, after two requests you just have to accept that they are not going to return your call. We have a repair man, but well, we tried to save a dime and it is costing us more than we have saved in cash and time. So, if and when we ever get the thing fixed, I will never try to save money by using someone that some one knows and not a legitimate company.

Now, rant over, let's move on to the fun stuff!

Christmas! Oh the joy of it. No? Well, let's put it, the Joy that is, back right now. So, why don't you have the required Joy of the holiday? No family to share it with? No money to purchase gifts? No money to purchase the extra special foods the day requires?

None of those are the source of Joy!

Joy will not be found under a beautiful tree decorated with lights and tinsel. It will not be found on a dining room table loaded down with delightful foods. It will not be found outside with a red bow on the hood. Joy is not a material thing. It cannot be.

Joy is Jesus Christ. To have Joy you must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Joy you receive will be the Joy of His gift of Grace in your Salvation!

When you've accomplished this, you will have the Joy that no man can steal. The pure Joy of His love and redemption in you.

How do I get this gift, you ask? You will be hard pressed to believe me but it is very simple. You simply ask. Yep, ask! Pray to the Father, admitting your need for Him in your life. Your need to turn over the controls to Him. Give Him all the glory for every step you take and receive the blessings that will follow. The greatest of these blessings will be Him giving you the gift of Salvation.

There is a price.

"Aha!" you say, "I knew there was a catch!"

No, not for you. The price has been paid. He, Jesus Christ, paid the highest price. He gave His life for yours. He shed His blood for yours. So you see, it is a win-win situation. You receive all the gift and blessings and only have to ask for them.

Will you? Won't you? Why shouldn't you?

"But what if you're wrong?" you ask.

Okay, if I'm wrong, nothing lost. You've lived a good life, been a good person, shared the love in your heart with others.

BUT......What if I'm not wrong?

Can you afford that price?

Go out and make this day yours by giving it to Him!
Blessings~
Kat