John Meunier has tagged me from a meme created by L.L. Barkat.  I don’t know if I have ever thought about whether or not blogging has actually changed my life, and compared to going to seminary, moving to England, getting married, and having a daughter, I don’t know if it has all that much!  Still, there are ways  I could say that it has affected me, and in keeping with the meme, here are 5 ways:

1. I have been introduced to an online community that I would not have found/connected with had I not begun blogging.  I have enjoyed meeting others in the Methodist world, and it has been a particular help to know other British Methodists.  There are others outside the Methodist fold that I have travelled with and got to know.  I am grateful to all who I have met.
2. It provides a forum for me to get my thoughts out, and at times be a part of a conversation.  I have grown and been challenged because of the dialogue.
3. It keeps me connected with many in the United States who follow along (and complain when I am not funny).
4. For those few members of my churches/circuit who use the internet and check my blog, I think it gives an interesting insight into my thoughts that I may not express at the front of the church or in committee meetings.  Or those thoughts I do express, I can reason them out better here!
5. It is a humble reminder of Paul’s command when I see how small my thoughts extend when I look at the stats page.

The meme ask that I tag 5 people, so I tag:

Nick Norelli
PamBG
Wyman Richardson
Sally Coleman
Olive Morgan

The meme also lists these 5 rules:

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. Link back to the person who tagged you.
3. Link back to this parent post (L.L. Barkat is not so much interested in generating links, but rather in tracking the meme so she can perhaps do a summary post later on that looks at patterns and interesting discoveries.)
4. Tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. Post these rules— or just have fun breaking them