Two-timing…

“Torn between two lovers,

Feeling like a fool,

Loving the both of you

Is breaking all the rules…”

(Mary Macgregor, “Torn Between Two Lovers”)

I have to admit I have that song running through my mind these days. I’m a two-timer and I must confess.

It started off innocently enough. I just left a little message that I thought might offer encouragement. The feedback was so positive it surprised me, and I ventured a bit more—and more, and more. Until it became a full-blown affair. Now I find myself dividing my time between my first love and my new one, unable to give one or the other my complete attention. I love them both. And I am torn.

Torn between two weblogs, feeling like a fool.

Because, truly, I likely could write once and post twice—in two different places—and no one would know. And then I wouldn’t feel so torn, so divided, so unable to give each what I would like to give. A little piece of my soul that, I hope, might encourage and inspire.

Of course, Sound Off is my first personal blog unrelated to school; the other is truly just the front page of our school’s Moodle site, of which I am an administrator. Back in mid-October, I woke up and thought I should write a simple, but encouraging, message to the students and parents who visit the site for assignments and announcements.

The subject line simply said:

In case you were wondering…

The rest of the message was short:

“This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

Just thought you might need a little pick-me-up today–and a reminder that God made this day, and that’s reason to rejoice and be glad… in every homework-filled and hustle-bustle minute! Enjoy His presence and your loved ones! Be blessed and be a blessing!

And that was it. Prior to that date, I had written some tutorials for using the school’s learning management system and given school-wide messages, such as “Moodle is temporarily not working; your teachers have been alerted.” For that I got the occasional “thank you,” but my little reminder that, indeed, God made this day and told us what to do with it received the equivalent of “thanks, I needed that” and “you must have been reading my mind” in emails and face-to-face conversations for days and weeks afterward.

That was how it began. Since that time, I have slowly expanded my posts at that site. The funny thing is, however, that I write what I feel God has laid on my heart for my students and parents to read, and I write for Sound Off something completely different. Though I know many of you love Jesus—and know that some of my school connections also read this blog—I feel the need to keep them separate. And, at times, I feel torn, because I have not been as attentive or prolific as I was and would like to be.

For those who have followed me for some time, that might actually be a relief! I am not bombarding your email box with loads of posts, but I hope what you find there is quality, if not quantity.

A two-timing blogger I may be, but my messages to you come straight from my heart. Thanks for reading!