Still slower than slow...

Here is a post I wrote in January of 2010.  I feel the need to repost it as my internet speed has not improved and I still feel quite badly about not being able to connect with you all in the ways I would desire.  I do subscribe to your blogs and read them in my Google Reader - but more often than not I am unable to comment because your pages just. don't.  load.  Please read my words below and accept them as my apology...

I love the life the Lord gave to me here in the middle of nowhere. I love our land. I love my home. I even love the fact that it can be winter for more than eight months of the year.

I do not miss the rush of urban life, the crowds, the noise, the dirt. I lived in that for 43 years and gratefully left it behind. Now my life moves in time with the seasons of sowing and reaping, seed time and harvest, a rhythm that is real and natural. Connections have been planted here.

In. Real. Life.

But there is another place that I live as well. A place with no walls, no borders, no limits. Using technology we can reach out to the world and forge connections that would otherwise be impossible.

So begins my rant. There is a very annoying aspect to this country beauty that surrounds me. Slow, SLOW, painfully SLOW dial-up internet. Our connection gets no faster than 28k, yes that's "k" friends. Some people wonder how I manage to blog at all. It must be the spirit of perseverence that God gifted me with, like the persistant widow.

Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!' "He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.'" Luke 18:1-5 The Message

I seem to waste ridiculous amounts of time waiting for my computer to respond to simple requests. I get frustrated. I get impatient. I get angry at our lack of options. It's not that we refuse to pay for high-speed, or wireless, or satellite or cable, there is none available.

"I love my life here in the country" I tell myself again and again. And I do.

But....

When I try to reach out and connect with many of you I find that your pages won't load. I can't view your videos, never mind enter into the new realm of vlogging. The connection is just too slow.

Most painful of all is my inability to leave as many comments as I'd like. As a blogger, I know how those words of encouragement and understanding, those "amens" spur us on. I don't enjoy being a lurker when I truly do have things to share with you.

So I ask for your forgiveness. I'm with you. I'm reading and loving your words and hearts. I'm sending you my prayers. I'm leaving my responses where and when I can.

Will you join me in prayers that internet options here will soon change? And please be patient with me until that time comes.