She did not knock on my door requesting to borrow a cup of sugar.  She did not call me to set up a play date for our children.  She did not even friend request me on Facebook.  Instead, she approached me with a question that would make a couple of kindred spirits smile.  She asked me to be her “Bloggy Friend,” which was a request I could not refuse.  We are two moms, separated by distance, but bound by so many common interests.  We both love Jesus, we both have a heart for ministry, and we both like to blog with a purpose.  And so began a friendship that ten years ago would have seemed highly unconventional, but seems completely normal in our technology-saturated culture of today.

As Bloggy Friends we share our heartbreaks and our hopes, our dreams and our failures, all from the context of our blogs.  We read each other’s posts, making comments from time to time, interacting, engaging, empathizing, and dialoguing.  Bloggy Friends take friendships to levels of transparency that many traditional friendships may never reach.  Bloggy Friends do more than just scratch the surface they bare their hearts.

These friendships create a virtual community that can be accessed in the middle of the night from the comfort of a computer, or from the convenience of an iPhone throughout the day.  Bloggy Friends are not limited by schedules, seasons of life, or distance that might otherwise prevent traditional friendships from experiencing connection.  It is a Christ-centered, authentic community that is not meant to replace our traditional sense of community, but adds depth to our experience.

We do not ask to borrow a cup a sugar, but we covet each other’s prayers.  We do not seek out play dates for our children, but we openly share our hearts, our hopes, and our dreams for our children.  And we do more than interact on Facebook.  We engage with each other’s blogs and therefore experience each other’s hearts.

Thank you, Abby, for inviting me to be your Bloggy Friend!

NOTES:

• Meet e4e author Leaha Shaikh and read Leaha’s posts on e4e.
• Leaha invites you to visit her friend Abby at Fan the Flame.  Abby and her husband are on staff with Student Venture.

Source: Afternoon Tea Party by Mary Cassatt is in the public domain in the U.S. and was downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.