From My Heart To Yours....

There are no words for this day...

And many days like it.

A day where I truly have nothing to complain about

and have been the recipient of the sweet

camaraderie of many, many web gal-pals.

So many days are thus, in fact, that it is sad that I lose track of all the blessings I

experience each day -- until I read a post

like this one

from a gal who has become such a friend.

We've never met.

Just like I have never met these ladies:

Anne,

or Adrienne,

or Rebecca,

or Paige,

or Kasey,

or Jamie,

or Jackie,

or Donna,

or Teresa,

or Lulu

or Laura,

or Denise,

or Claudia,

or Andrea,

or Elizabeth,

or

Stephanie,

or Maryanne,

or Chrissy,

or Teri (well, we HAVE met)

:)

or ANY

of the other ladies who

cross my path via our blogs

just about every day.

It makes me realize how less full my daily experience would be

WITHOUT you.

I have been thinking and talking quite a bit lately about this whole

phenomena of blogging.

I imagine it to be a mostly female thing, don't you?

We are by nature social, chatty creatures, so with political or tech blogs aside,

much of the blogging world for the most part belongs to women.

{That's my opinion, anyway.}

And as such, I have begun to realize that I have

forged friendships, via this one-dimensional page

on this flat screen of mine,

friendships that mean

so

so

much to me.

And I'd guess you all sense what I mean, too.

You "get it",

this whole blogging thing.

Why else would we pack up our things

and go to the expense of

airfare

and lodging

to be part of a

gathering of bloggers somewhere in the country.

I told someone just the other day that I ADORE that here online, I am able to

get to know other women for who they

REALLY are.

We are, for the most part, not judging each other by our looks,

what kind of car we drive,

the size or look of our home.

Sure, we blog about our homes, it's never

anything pretentious,

but more like asking one girlfriend to another

"Hey, what do you think I should do here in this room?

Leave it like this, or should I paint it?"

Rarely do politics,

or political party sentiments leak into the mix (thank you, Lord!).

So, even on that typically divisive hot-button topic,

we have the luxury of eliminating

that, too, from the framework of how we get to know each other.

Instead,

we relate to each other

on what really, really matters --

Our home -

not measured in square footage,

but in love-per-square-inch (just made that up).

Our children,

if we have them,

and how we struggle sometimes to know just what to do as moms.

We can be gut-level honest

when we are having a really bad

"I-wish-I-could-run-away-from-home" kind of day.

And we rush to jot out a blog post when our day has been

a "sundae-kind-of-day with a cherry on top".

(I'm paraphrasing sweet Cathy, here).

We spill out our hearts about our lives, our dreams, our failures, triumphs, our bad days, or fabulous days.

We put up a giddy blog post about

the latest pair of shoes or

that fabulous Anthropologie "find" we just scored.

And somehow,

we all get it --

we all quietly rejoice with each other

as we skim the latest

blog postings throughout the day and night.

This is NOT our grandmother's

(or our mother's)

world anymore in terms of how

women relate and communicate, is it?

Some have looked at me cross-eyed

as I mention a "good friend" online that I know through blogging.

Like some may have in years past when someone would say

"Oh, I married this guy I met online."

As if to say,

"Good grief, you DO realize you don't really know this person, don't you?"

Well, not so fast, I'd now say.

Who's to say that you all don't perhaps

know me better than some with whom I rub elbows with

(in person) each week?

Goodness knows you hear more from me than most anyone I know "in person".

With the exception of those in my home, of course... :)

I talk more on this blog than I do in "real life" I think,

so, many of you are actually a few steps ahead

of what many in my circle of friends and family know.

(For what that's worth...).

;)

Oh, I'm blabbering now, but I say all this to say....

When I read Cathy's post,

the tears that began to flow took me by surprise....

I truly felt her emotions,

I related to her joy over friendships she was

beginning.

I nodded in agreement

that it is truly like

the 'cherry on top of the sundae-kind-of-day'

when you interact with fellow women

who have come to know you,

and accept you

for who you

really, truly

are

---- deep inside.

Not the car,

not the house,

the logo on your handbag

or shoes.

Not your dress size,

whether you have a French tip manicure

or short, polish-less nails,

whether you have that tanning bed glow,

or that Pilates leanness,

or any of the other ways we as women tend to size each other up.

JUST YOU.

YOUR HEART.

The REAL you.

The one that lives inside the shell that we so often invest so

much time on, but is so fleeting.

Thank you for being out there.

For being real.

For being available.

For writing the blog posts that tell us

that you wonder sometimes

if you even want to

keep blogging

because you sense

there is no use to it.

Oh my dear girl -- keep blogging.

To you who write through falling tears on your keyboard

about a crushing experience with a child --

where you feared you'd hurt his very spirit with your words.

Only to be showered with reassuring words

by multiplied tens of women out there

(whom you've never met)

that you ARE a good mother,

and that each one of us has felt that same sharp pain

after we've mouthed words to our children

that we wish we could grab back.

Keep blogging.

One day one of us will have a crushing experience

that we will then feel free to open up about.

You will have paved the way for others

to then receive the reassurance and comfort they need.

To you who for no reason other than

"just because"

will take your time,

effort,

and money

and send something to another blogger friend

- simply because

"I just saw it and thought you should have it.

It looked so like YOU."

Oh dear girl. Keep blogging.

This is the kind of civility

and showing of kindness

and generosity of spirit

that our world needs modeled.

You live by your heart and your gift of giving --

there are those who will learn from you

and then adopt for themselves such lovely habits

of sharing with another -- "just because".

Keep blogging.

You are an influence for grace

in this otherwise not-so-graceful world.

To those of you who blog about the true real-life romance

you have with your husbands...

who seem to always have a sweet thing to say

about him

or tell about a wonderful date you're going on,

or a trip he has surprised you with.

You write of how you love that man with every fiber of your being

and want only to tell the world so.

Keep blogging, sweet wife.

Keep blogging.

Yours is a gift of true honor that you are modeling for other wives

or wives-to-be.

You show a way of loving your husband that does not mimic

the all too common model we see on tv, etc.,

where husbands are too often the butt of a joke

or belittled by their wives

and other women characters on a show.

Thank you for being that free-spirited, fulfilled

wife who sees her marriage

not as bondage and a drudgery,

but has chosen to see her man as no different than the

impossibly handsome man on a romance novel.

Your children are watching

your example and will model

their marriages after yours.

And women who read your blog posts

about your love

will have encouragement

to perhaps take another snapshot view of their hubby

when he comes home that night --

and maybe,

just maybe,

see him not as her has-been, boring mate,

but instead, through new eyes,

as HER cover-of-a-romance-novel guy.

Well... you never know.... ;)

Keep blogging, hon.

You are a breath of fresh air these days.

Each of you brings her own unique gift,

her own unique "spin"

to blogging.

The world of blogging and women sharing with women

would not be the same

WITHOUT YOU.

Please stop by Cathy's page and

read why I have such admiration for her.

She loves life.

She love God.

She loves her family.

She is funny (crazy Cathy) and can laugh at things many of us

would allow to rock our daily world.

I love reading whatever she

comes up with next on her blog.

There is always encouragement, always a laugh,

and always a grand, grand nod to God

and all He is to her.

See, without even knowing it,

Cathy is a distance, "invisible" mentor

to many women.

She lives her life and blogs about it -

and she changes hearts she

will never know of

this side of heaven.

Oh how I treasure each and

every one of you.

I stay far too busy anymore.

I do LOVE what I do, which is good

considering how much time I must

devote to each day/night.

But I never want to allow busy-ness

to cause me to neglect

YOU

and my desire to tell you how much

I just simply adore you all.

May we work at

not allowing the urgent to crowd out the important.

You all are sooo

important.

The rest will get done.

Just wanted to let you know.

~Ruth~