Nason and I just got a futon.  We had been shopping around, and we hadn’t really said anything about it to anyone-it simply wasn’t something that came up in conversation.  Then, out of the blue, our friends Gene and Cecilia offered us their old futon.  At first I was thrown off.  I mean, how did they know we were looking for one?  We hadn’t mentioned it; we were still just browsing the internet for one, and it was sort of a low priority item on our list. 

And then it hit me: I had mentioned it in one of my posts.  It was just a passing comment about the progress on turning the house into a home, about how we were shopping for a futon and some end tables.  But it got us a free futon.

This got me thinking.  Before, I started my blog because I love to write.  I had a million ideas bouncing around in my head and I wanted an outlet to write them down and share them with others.  But I learned something about blogging:  it is so much more than that.

By writing on a public space like a blog, I am sharing a part of my life with others, and other bloggers are sharing their lives with me.  It is such an intimate thing to be able to share stories, thoughts, and passions with other people, and I think it is an amazing way to see into the lives of people who you may not ever meet face to face, but can relate to deeply. 

I think it meets a fundamental human need to be a part of a community, and although it can never take the place of relationships in the ‘real world,’ it can change lives and connect people across the world.  Blogging is a relational tool, and I didn’t really get that until recently.  I think it may change the way I do blogging a little.

I want to say thank you to Gene and Cil for the futon; Nason and I love it, and it’s very cute and comfortable!