Hope and Love in Unusual Places

As a college student there are many times where friends drunk and sober begin silly conversations only to transition into serious life chats and philosophical musings. Recently one of these discussions centered around the way the advances in technology is making us as a society lose our abilities to love and care about people as people. Basically too many important conversations are delegated to IM and text messaging. Too many of our friends are people we have never met but instead people who write blogs or randomly added us on Myspace. Are we missing something? Are we losing something important to our humanity? I tend to take the side against technology. Not to say I am against it. I love my computer, I love the Internet, I love everything that makes my life easier and streamlines my tasks, not to mention helps me stay in touch with loved ones while I am away at school. But I also miss having face to face convos, or at least hearing the other persons voice via telephone. Anyways the point of this blog is that I found an exception to this.

Basically I get bored and I blog stalk. Not just people I know, everyone. I'm not a creepy person, I am just a bored person. While stalking one day I came across a blog written by the sister of a woman who was horribly injured in a plane crash in August along with her husband, and through C Jane's blog I linked to Nie Nie's (the one injured) blog. I read and read and read everything Nie Nie had written. I spent days digging as far back into the past blogs as I could. The honesty of these women, the truth and beauthy of their families, their candidness. It was astounding. Do people like these really exist? Can they?

It's been a few months now, a few obsessive months. I check the blogs regularly waiting for updates on the condition of the young couple, of their four children, and of the people who love them and support them and what they are doing. I read about typical household chores, and about sweet children who are far from home, but loved more than words can express. I get to see pictures of the family and what life was like before the crash, and what I pray life can return to afterwards. I can truly say that I love this family of strangers, from the youngest little chief to the sister who stepped up and opened her home to four children under 7, and especially the creative, amazing, beautiful young mother who slumbers still waiting for her body to heal. I can see the way God has blessed all of them despite the tragedy. I pray that when the time comes for me to have a family, mine will be just as blessed.

I am so excited for the day Nie Nie is able to continue to tell her story. I am excited to hear the positive spin she finds on this horrible event. I am excited to see pictures of the family once they are reunited, soon I hope. I am even excited for the time when they move past this and I get to read about their new adventures.

So is technology causing us to lose our humanity. I'm not sure. But I do know that without blog stalking I would not have found this family that has impacted me so strongly, I would not have been blessed by the words on the pages. I would not have been inspired and excited about having a family. Can you love someone you've never met? Someone who doesn't even know you exist? I say yes. I say I do and I'm proud to admit. If I can be half the woman Nie Nie or her sister C Jane is then I will be happy.

Thanks for reading my random ramblings.