{"id":281,"date":"2011-05-04T10:46:28","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T14:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=281"},"modified":"2011-05-04T19:52:49","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T23:52:49","slug":"reaching-out-through-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html","title":{"rendered":"Reaching Out Through the Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Drawn and thin, the teenage hospital patient\u00a0sat for hours in the waiting room communicating with his friends through the Internet.\u00a0 They sent messages and talked.\u00a0 He laughed and typed.\u00a0 Looking at pictures sent to him, he would respond and receive even more messages.\u00a0 He was using a social media that I’d not seen before called My Space.\u00a0\u00a0This was perhaps 10 years ago and my mother was in the hospital.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As I observed the young man and his Internet activities, I realized that I was watching the beginnings of a new world.\u00a0 It was my first introduction to the importance that the Internet played in the lives of people under 30 years old.<\/p>\n

Later, several teens came to visit at our home.\u00a0 Sure, they filled their hours with computer games but they, also,\u00a0played “shopping games” using online stores.\u00a0 Filling their carts at various items, they did “virtual” shopping without actually purchasing anything.\u00a0 In fact, these\u00a0young men and women\u00a0spent no time in front of the TV but gathered around the computer entertaining themselves for hours.<\/p>\n

When I began to blog, I had only one true goal, I wanted ministry to person’s with developmental disabilities to have a presence on the Internet.\u00a0 I had seen that people under 30 use this resource for every imaginable activity.\u00a0 They play, shop, pretend, work and communicate on the Internet.<\/p>\n

Three years later, after a good deal of resistance, I opened a FaceBook\u00a0page.\u00a0 Then a Twitter account (@lindaghoward).\u00a0 My son wanted me to be able to SKYPE.\u00a0 He set up\u00a0that account for me.\u00a0 I have\u00a0a LinkedIn account.\u00a0 I text messages to my grandchildren, rather than email or make a phone call because that is how they want to hear from me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>While this constant learning process is probably good for my brain, I was thrilled that my blog\u00a0can now\u00a0automatically forward to my FaceBook page and my Twitter account.\u00a0 There is a limit to the time I want to invest inside this “brave new world.”<\/p>\n

Eventually, the question must\u00a0become, how much is enough?\u00a0 Juggling the Internet options available can become a full-time occupation.\u00a0 Those brave young men and women who seem to coast effortlessly from one Internet function to another are a marvel; but I’ve seen that even they aren’t able to keep all the balls in the air at the same time. \u00a0One avid Twitter tweeted, “My wife says to return to real life with her. \u00a0We are taking a few days off.”<\/p>\n

I’m reminded of Solomon\u00a0who wrote that there is no end to the number of books that can be written.\u00a0 In like manner, there is no end to the number of ways you can use the Internet in your ministry.\u00a0 However, Solomon concluded that we are to beware because much study wearies the mind and body.<\/p>\n

What are the\u00a0Internet programs that you find essential to conducting your life and connecting with the Lord?\u00a0 What are some of the things you would like to access but you don’t have time to do?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drawn and thin, the teenage hospital patient\u00a0sat for hours in the waiting room communicating with his friends through the Internet.\u00a0 They sent messages and talked.\u00a0 He laughed and typed.\u00a0 Looking at pictures sent to him, he would respond and receive even more messages.\u00a0 He was using a social media that I’d not seen before called…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,40,10,16,28,12,41,1],"tags":[690,21,688,696,7,71,699,701,13,689,692,72,700,70],"class_list":["post-281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged","category-religion","category-spirituality","category-uncategorized","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-facebook","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-religion","tag-skype","tag-spirituality","tag-twitter"],"yoast_head":"\nReaching Out Through the Internet - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reaching Out Through the Internet - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drawn and thin, the teenage hospital patient\u00a0sat for hours in the waiting room communicating with his friends through the Internet.\u00a0 They sent messages and talked.\u00a0 He laughed and typed.\u00a0 Looking at pictures sent to him, he would respond and receive even more messages.\u00a0 He was using a social media that I’d not seen before called…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-04T14:46:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-04T23:52:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/my-office-before-by-traceytakesphotos.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reaching Out Through the Internet - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reaching Out Through the Internet - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Drawn and thin, the teenage hospital patient\u00a0sat for hours in the waiting room communicating with his friends through the Internet.\u00a0 They sent messages and talked.\u00a0 He laughed and typed.\u00a0 Looking at pictures sent to him, he would respond and receive even more messages.\u00a0 He was using a social media that I’d not seen before called…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2011-05-04T14:46:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-05-04T23:52:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/my-office-before-by-traceytakesphotos.jpeg"}],"author":"Linda G. Howard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html","name":"Reaching Out Through the Internet - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/my-office-before-by-traceytakesphotos.jpeg","datePublished":"2011-05-04T14:46:28+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-04T23:52:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#\/schema\/person\/a10d3530d8432a656d648135fe6da739"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/my-office-before-by-traceytakesphotos.jpeg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/my-office-before-by-traceytakesphotos.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/reaching-out-through-the-internet.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reaching Out Through the Internet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/","name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Linda Howard","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/#\/schema\/person\/a10d3530d8432a656d648135fe6da739","name":"Linda G. Howard","description":"Linda G. Howard is the best-selling and award-winning author of four books, including MOTHERS ARE PEOPLE, TOO and THE SECRET LIFE OF A HOUSEWIFE. Currently, she serves as area director of The Special Gathering, a ministry within the mentally challenged community. Additionally, she is the co-publisher and editor of CONNECTING POINT, the ministry newsletter. Her husband is a retired aerospace technologist who worked for NASA. They have three children and four grandchildren.","sameAs":["http:\/\/specialgathering.wordpress.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/author\/lhoward"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}