Be Careful What You “Like” Part 2

In Part 1, we looked at the word like and how Facebook, in particular, has influenced our view of it. We discussed that though approval is indeed part of life, we have a problem when we put too much emphasis on what others think of us. Ultimately, our main concern should be making God happy. Petals Scattered in the Wind There’s another problem in this whole business of “likes”—the pressure to approve of things we don’t know well enough to assess. On several occasions, I’ve received Facebook or Twitter requests (maybe you have too) to “like” a certain business or author I’ve never even heard of. Sometimes there’s even an incentive: “Like my author page and be entered in a drawing for a free Alaskan cruise.” Of course, there’s nothing evil about offering an incentive, but each time I’ve found myself thinking, How can I “like” a business that’s three…

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What God Did at the Write-to-Publish Conference

This year, I bit the financial bullet and decided that with my novel coming out in March, I just had to go to the Write-to-Publish Conference this year (June 3-6) at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Bless Lin Johnson’s soul (she’s the director). She’s been sending me brochures advertising the conferences for years, but I simply never found the finances (or the courage) to take the next step. I know; it’s silly. I’ve been involved in publication work of some kind and publishing short stories and articles for years, but the thought of going to a writers’ conference freaked the fire out of me. Anyhow, God seemed to be prodding me like a little lamb who didn’t want to follow the flock, but I decided to do the right thing after all. Not a fun step (because I’d rather stay cloistered in my north woods office), but definitely a necessary…

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