Being Careful

I noticed on Facebook that a friend's cat at the ripe old age of 15 years had died. I wrote her a note of condolence, and then had to contact her over another issue later. So I sent an email, again with a heartfelt note about how hard it is to say goodbye to a beloved pet, especially one who had been a part of her life for 15 years. I assured her I was praying for her and her family in this hard time.

Later, I received an email back,
"Thank you for your sweetness, Vicky....but we don't own any pets."

This is why people like me shouldn't be on Facebook. With somewhat alarming regularity, I am sending appropriate notes to the wrong person...at which point, they become inappropriate. I went back over my Facebook posts to try and figure out whose cat had died. I finally found it. The bereaved owner is not someone I personally know, and am actually not certain why she is one of my Facebook friends, but her name is very similar to the friend whose cat didn't die, the friend who doesn't even own a cat with any potential to die. My life is one big, giant Malaprop.

Last week, I thought I was responding on Facebook to a friend about her birthday, waxing poetic about how I prayed the sun would beam its warmth with special rays of golden balm upon her on this glorious day. It turned out, I posted that to the stranger whose name was right above my friend's, someone I didn't know, and someone whose Facebook post I had commented on had nothing to do with sunshine, or birthdays, or even happy things. I did receive a message back from the stranger, thanking me for my optimistic comment. That one was much better received than my posting, "That's nothing your own son hasn't tried" to a Facebook thread on sexual abuse. I thought I was posting to a friend about climbing high and dangerous places, but then with horror realized I had responded to the post above that one, the post about sexual abuse.

I need a new motto: "Read twice, post once." I am too careless to be a responsible Facebook user. God has tried to warn me about this tendency over and over again. How many times have I come across Bible verses that remind me to be careful? Thousands! We are never encouraged to throw caution to the wind, and impulsively say the first stupid thing that comes into our head. We are however told to carefully consider our words, our actions, our beliefs.

My only comfort in all this is that my good friend's cat is not dead.

Haggai 1:5
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.

PS- Today is the big day! My book signing for God Drives a Tow Truck, 1:30-3:30 at Park Road Books, in Park Road Plaza, off of Park Rd. The book is free with the purchase of an authentic autograph that only costs $12.99.



-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org