Thou Shalt not Facebook? Hold up!

Ain't that somethin'! My last post was about using your electronic devices to do Christ's work and today in the news I read about a New Jersey pastor calling for his church leaders and congregants to delete their Facebook accounts.

Read story on USA Today's website.

Call me millennial minded, but that is just crazy! You can't shun technology when your sheep go astray.
First of all, a cheating man is going to cheat no matter what, am I right? Whether it's an old flame on Facebook, a new flame on Craigslist (oh yeah, they've got em too) or just a chance meeting at the corner store, a cheater is going to cheat. What Facebook has done is made it easier for sleuthing spouses to catch their significant others in their dirt.
In my experience, banning access to social networks will just force a cheater to find another avenue to creep.
With that being said, I'm going to go out on a limb here and proclaim that Facebook is not the Devil!
However, I will admit that it can create temptations for many. My husband and I have had the i-talk about what is and is not appropriate digital communication. I'll share some of our thoughts and decisions with you:

1. Just like we tell kids on the web, If you wouldn't do it in person, it is definitely not OK to do it on the web. Sins of the heart and mind are just as hurtful as those of the flesh. Don't think it's not cheating because it was just said in a text or IM.
2. Limit your contacts to true friends, family, colleagues and networking associates. In other words, you don't have to Friend everybody. It is not rude to ignore a person who is not integral in your life. Is this a person you need to have contact with? If not IGNORE! That dude that sat behind you in 8th grade history is not going to be hurt if you ignore him.
3. Don't friend old flames. It's stupid. Unless your relationship began and ended before puberty, don't risk what you have. It may seem innocent to you, but your spouse probably will be jealous and hurt. Let it go.
4. Remind your friends that you are a Christian and they can't leave a bunch of racy, suggestive messages on your wall. That is not cool. Let 'em know.
5. Give each other access to your accounts. After all, if there is nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear.
6. Post love messages (clean ones) on each others' walls. You've got to let those home-wrecking skanks lost and confused children of God know that you two belong to each other and it would be inappropriate to step in on that.
7. Be honest to your partner. If you are uncomfortable with an online relationship, let your spouse know and try to figure out a way to resolve the issue before it gets out of hand.
8. Be honest with the offender. Please don't be messy, but if someone is sending inappropriate messages to your spouse, you need to let them know what the business is.
9. Don't play games online. I'm not talking Farmville either y'all. Don't use a social networking site to lure or trap your man/woman into some mess. Leave the stealth operations to the good folks on 'To Catch a Predator'
10. Use all your space online and in this world to praise and exalt the Lord! You can't go wrong with praise y'all!
    

Essense of hood

What is hood?
My stepson visited us last year when we lived in Pine Bluff, Ark. — known to locals as 'Crime Bluff.' The comments he made to his dad seemed to express an eagerness to see 'the hood.'
So my husband asked his 'Son, what do you think hood means?'
Fast forward about a year, we've moved to Missouri — caramel candies in vanilla sea — and according to my stepson, we now live in a better neighborhood.
I'll admit, there are less grown people at home at noon, which is a relief. There are less gunshots, less break-ins, less domestic calls. More people walking, smiling, waving, talking. A lot less color.
But, my pregnant neighbor and her live-in boyfriend are drug users and dealers. So is the couple sown the street and about ten other people on our block.
Last week my husband was hanging out and a bitch stole his phone.
I mean she straight jacked him for his Blackberry.
She ran off, used the phone for two days, then sold it.
The guy she sold it too tried to sell it back to us.
The host of the gathering suggested the best way to resolve the problem was to let her 'beat that bitch's ass' as she had been waiting too long to do so.
So now I'm back to my husband's question to his son.
'What is hood.'
Because the way I look at it, it's a state of mind.
It's the mind set that tells you to do certain things certain ways that you should know better about.
It's in all of us, but only a minority of us choose to live in the state indefinitely.
I have to admit to harboring many of my own hood tendencies.
But I learned from growing up in a family full of non hood regulators you shouldn't let your mouth write checks that your ass can't cash.