Wednesday, April 11, 2012

My First Linky and Blog Hop

First of all, yes, this is my second post today but it is really for tomorrow.    I want to try something new so just ignore this post until tomorrow.  I've been working on this while I should have been finishing up our taxes but tomorrow I ABSOLUTELY will finish up our taxes...maybe.  I've reverted to my old style of posts for the next week.  That is because, after hours of trying, I discovered that the style with the flipcards for some reason will not work with a blog hop/linky set up.  I did not know that.

OK, So I really DO NOT KNOW WHAT I AM DOING but I want to try a Linky.  The problem is, I am not sure what a Linky really is or how it works.  That is not going to stop me from trying, though!

(Yes, that is a photo from an old post and yes, I just wanted to 
use it again because my hair doesn't usually look that good.)

I went to several sites for instruction. They used words like "meme" and "technorati tag".  Huh?  I was about to give up when I found the Linky Tools Site.  I still don't know quite what I am doing but again, that isn't going to stop me.  I have seen blog hops on other people's blogs but I didn't really know what that meant.  Well, the Linky Tools Site shared this explanation...

 blog hop is a linky list that is SHARED ON MULTIPLE BLOGS.

When several blogs put the same linky list code on their blog, the exact same list appears on each blog.

Blog visitors can submit their entries on any blog that contains the list. The entries will appear on each blog where the list resides.

Blog readers see the same list on each blog, and can "HOP" from blog to blog seeing the same list of links to follow: BLOG HOP!

By designating your linky list as a BLOG HOP, a link will appear below your linky list where your blog readers can get the blog hop code for your linky.

If you want to do a 'PRIVATE' blog hop, then do NOT check the blog hop checkbox, and simply share the code PRIVATELY with the other blog owners.
Brent Riggs & Linky Tools create the concept of the "blog hop" as it is used on so many blogs today.  

OK, so then I had to think of a purpose for this blog hop.  Some people share a "photo of the week" and every blogger that wishes to "link up" to share their photo.  Some blogs have great questions that every blogger that links up answers.  All the bloggers posts show their own answers and the links to the other bloggers posts just show up on all the linked blogs...at least that's what I think.  Those look kind of fun and maybe I will try that in the future.  

For now, I decided maybe I'd ask bloggers to share one of their most thought-provoking posts.  Will that work?  I am just saying "one of" instead of your very favorite thought-provoking post.  That way you won't have to spend too much time deciding which you prefer.  Maybe down the road I'll go for funniest post, most embarrassing post, etc.  Today, though, I am asking for one of your most thought-provoking posts.
Here's one of mine.

For my followers who do not blog, maybe you could leave a thought-provoking comment or quote?  For those who are still having trouble leaving comments, send me a thought-provoking e-mail at onlythemanager@yahoo.com.  OR, I read that you can copy the linky and put it on your Facebook site as well.  I'm not sure but be brave and give it a try!


Remember Who's You Are

Mike went to seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.  His third year of seminary was his internship year.  After a lot of years of schooling it was exciting to think of where we'd be sent for internship year.  We knew we'd be back at seminary for another year after internship but to experience a year in the real world, away from academia seemed like a big deal at the time.

I admit is was not convenient to uproot our little kids again for that year to move away.  Maria was just a first grader and Ben was only three years old, but things worked out well.   "Away" turned out to be to Wyoming, to the very town where my Mom and most of her side of the family lived.  My brother and his family were there as well as one of my sisters, my Grandma Rose and quite a few of my aunts, uncles and cousins.  I was thrilled!

The congregation to which Mike was assigned was vibrant, to say the least.  It was absolutely FULL of young families and soooo much fun for us.  Mike worked HARD, though.  He was paid very little and put in very, very long hours but the pastor who was his leader, Pastor Hillman, was a great teacher for him.    Our kids loved him.

Maria named him Pastor "He-Man"!

One of the things that Pastor Hillman taught us was actually a parenting phrase.  I remember he and his wife saying that when their teenagers would leave the house to go with friends, they'd say to them, "Remember WHO's you are!"  I loved that.  I remembered that!  Our kids were just little, in fact Sam wasn't even born yet, but I saved that little nugget and used it when they were older, so did Mike.

To me, it could be taken two ways.  It could be a simple reminder that they are part of our family.  They are loved by us and we wanted them to make good choices.  However, our kids knew that we meant more than that.  We wanted them to remember that they were Children of God.  As such, they were loved completely.  Of course, I wanted them to also remember what was expected of them as they made choices of how they wanted to lead their lives.

I don't know if we were just being manipulative parents or if we were on to something truly inspiring...or both.  When you are watching a piece of your heart walk out the front door, though, I think you will try whatever you can to cloak them with your love.  Did our kids make teenage mistakes like everyone else's?  Well, they did make some mistakes and like all teens, they were a "work in progress", but all three developed character strong with integrity.

I still love those words.  I see now that they are words for all of us, not just teenagers.  Every day I know that I face times when my first instinct is to act regrettably.  Maybe I want to snap a snotty comment at the person or tell a less-than-flattering tale about a person so that I will look better by comparison.  I fight those types of urges daily.  I don't always win but I want to try harder to remember Who's I am.

Here's a current song that kind of touches on this subject.  I hope you like it.

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