Imagine the “lounge” having cobblestone streets like those in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina.  When you least expected it, The Mad Lurker would slowly crawl out of the cracks and crevices with his shenanigans.  Tiptoeing into each “room” of our online oasis, he would survey the conversation, and then BAM … insert a comment immediately resulting in chaos amongst the moderators!  Before long, all of the little village people joined in, and we were hooting and hollering.

Those were the good ole days!

Stepping out into the daylight, he removed the shiny armor that protected him so well, placing it on the ground.  Picking up the cape with TML embossed on it, he placed it over his shoulders and stood with his feet shoulder length apart, hands fully on his hips, and a black masquerade mask over his eyes.

Who was that masked man?

Ah … Sir Shyknight, of course!  For, he had taken on another persona in The Mad Lurker.  We always knew he had it in him.  His playful nature was allowed to come forth once he cast his inhibitions aside.

And, if I may, I’d like to go back to the alarming phone call at my place of work all those years ago.  Fogel placed the initial call, and maybe my memory wanted to remember it as Shyknight. Maybe the softspoken Southern Belle wanted it to be him on the other end of the line, thus the way my memory played tricks on me as I began to write.  But alas, I, too, took on another persona as I slipped out of my Antebellem dress, and placed my lace hankie on the dresser.  I stepped out into my boldness and became a warrioress.

As the gathering of online friends continued nightly, we found ourselves not caring what anyone outside of our group thought.  When once we were uncomfortable in real life around certain people, we now had our own group of friends who became more like family.  Weeks turned into months and months into years.  We knew without a doubt the loyalty of this group of friends.

Back to our online forum aka “lounge” days.

Sir Shyknight and his friend, Fogel, finally felt comfortable enough in the group to move into private conversations.  Shyknight was only lurking in the lounge due to Fogel insisting he take a look around.  Fogel was, indeed, the more outspoken one, but these two together were a force to be reckoned with.  While they had their playful and silly side (as I recall a certain gentleman writing that he was dancing around his office chair, which made me giggle), they each had hearts as big as the universe!

Now, remember early on I thought I had chosen a screen name no one would recognize and thought surely no one would be able to find me.  Imagine the shock I had the morning I picked up the telephone at work and heard the caller on the other end speak my name.  The accent was strong, and I knew immediately this was not someone from the deep South such as myself.  Intrigued by the northern accent and soft yet manly voice that was speaking to me in such a familiar way,  imagine my shock and dismay when he announced he was none other than Shyknight!

How was this possible?

Frozen right where I sat, I struggled with my words.

How did he find me?

He began to speak of the subtle clues I had given him at first, and then more telling details, which unknowingly to me, allowed him to track me down.  Without telling him the name of my employer during our conversations, I soon learned there weren’t many bridge companies in the south!

Ah, to be young and naive. Meanwhile, Shyknight turned out not to be quite as shy as even HE had thought, for he reached out to me!

He soon calmed my fears and let me know he was not a threat to us.  Whew!  I remember a wave of relief washing over me as he warned of the dangers of the online world while we were speaking on the phone.  The thought brings a smile to this very day.  A “stranger” I met online was warning me of the dangers of giving too many details to strangers online that might lead to them finding me in real life!  EEK!!

These two were not a threat at all but were, instead, bright lights piercing the darkness.  Having learned of my whereabouts, I soon learned why they tracked me down.   They were behind every care package that arrived for my daughter and me during the early years.  Such thought was put into every package, and I have no doubt it was sealed with love each time.  From macaroni and cheese to stuffed animals, they chose items for my young daughter to surprise her and added treats for me that warmed my heart.  What a blessing it was to receive the boxes full of goodies. No one had ever done anything like that for us before.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  Everyone has their own beliefs about meeting people on the internet.  We’ve heard horror stories of kidnappings and serial killers.  We were told of the pure evilness of the internet as if the devil himself orchestrated it.  Now it was invading every household.   With that in mind, I was certain to disguise myself behind a screen name that gave off little information about myself.  Besides, it wasn’t just myself I had to think about here, for I had a toddler to protect!

I wasn’t as creative as this mysterious Shyknight character.  I was just an ordinary girl stepping out into the vast unknown of the world wide web.  SHB01 was what I came up with, which was later turned into Shooby by adoring fans.  Ha!  My “friends in the box” teased me with that nickname after we all became familiar with each other and comfortable enough to poke fun.  Yes, even Sir Shyknight, who we later learned had a tendency to be a prankster.

Ah, but in those early days, we were all just putting ourselves out there little by little, wondering if we would be accepted.  We came, just as we were from different walks of life, and surprisingly, we were welcomed with open arms.  One by one, friendships were formed just by a couple of strangers sharing their heartache and pain, mixed with laughter along the way.  Stories were shared of real-life struggles we were facing. Surprisingly to me, others were in deeper turmoil than I.  They, too, were in need of support and found it harder as adults to make new friends.  So, we sat at our computers, staring at the screen.  Scrolling through the topics, we read pieces that allowed a glimpse into that person’s life.  Often times we would take our conversations out of the public arena and into private emails or chats.  We shared with complete honesty and transparency our innermost thoughts and feelings without holding back.  That’s one thing about the internet.  Because you don’t walk alongside them daily in real life, you feel free to bare your soul.  You do so without hesitation or fear. You feel safe as you forge ahead.  In doing so, true friendships were made.  My new friends made me forget the ugliness that was going on around me.  Through their acceptance, compassion, support, and encouragement, they restored my faith in humanity.

It became a nightly ritual for me.  After reading my daughter’s favorite book to her, she would put her tiny hands together to pray.  As she closed her eyes, the longest blonde eyelashes touched her cheeks. With her favorite blanket and her
pink “Love Me” bear by her side, I tucked her into bed.  I kissed her on the forehead as she drifted off to dreamland.  I sat watching my little angel sleep for a while.  She was so peaceful.  I stroked her hair as I admired this beautiful gift God has given me.  I have always felt so completely blessed to be her mother.  Not wishing to wake her, I would quietly sneak out of her room into the next.  As I turned on the computer, I looked forward to sharing a few hours with my online friends.

I sat there staring at the screen.  An interesting individual appeared in our online community.   Not only did this brave man have an intriguing name, but he wanted a topic that, typically, only women seem concerned with:  romance.

Shyknight

His name almost jumped off the screen at me.  I envisioned him standing tall with his shiny metal armor on, shield in place, sword drawn, ready to defend our honor.  A knight in shining armor flung the door wide open and stood confidently in the doorway.

My imagination started to run wild.  As I type these words, the movie “A Knight’s Tale” comes to mind.

Ah, but he’s a shy one.  Well, we shall see if we can drawn him into our conversation on the topic at hand.  Romance … and so we dove head first into the topic.

When my marriage ended in divorce well over 20 years ago and my young daughter visited her dad on the weekends, I had way too much time on my hands.  I occupied myself by climbing on a blue lawn mower, which was more like a tank, and cutting six acres of grass Friday evening and into the majority of Saturday.  I placed the headphones over my ears and turned up the volume in an attempt to silence my deafening thoughts.  When the sun faded into the horizon I was forced to put the mower away and walk inside the empty house alone.

Friends were few and far between at that point.  They became distant when I needed them the most.  I’m sure it was a mixture of them not knowing what to say and others just not wanting to get involved.  Regardless of the reason they pulled away, I was alone every other weekend.  I found when most everyone looked forward to the weekends, I dreaded every other weekend when my daughter would be away.  I yearned for the days when our little white house in the country was filled with laughter and a whole lot of love.  It would be again come Sunday night when my beautiful blonde hair, blue-eyed girl with a smile that would light up the entire universe walked back into the door!  While I waited, I could either let the darkness outside and in my life consume me, or I could find another outlet.

One evening, desperate for companionship, I wandered into a forum I had seen advertised on a television network for women.  I didn’t know what to expect when I joined in on the conversation, but I was pleasantly surprised to find not only women but a few brave men among the group.  They were all so welcoming and supportive.  Serious topics were discussed in that forum, and these precious people soon became my closest friends.  One dear lady with a son around my daughter’s age said her son described us as her “friends in the box.”

Oh, I thank GOD for my friends in the box!

I still dreaded every other weekend when my daughter had to go, but when the sun went down, my broken and wounded soul found comfort with people I had never even laid eyes on.  I no longer had to feel alone for they were right there with me any time I logged in.

There is something unique about “meeting” people online.  Because they don’t walk beside you in your “real” everyday life, you find yourself more comfortable sharing your innermost thoughts and feelings with them.  They confide in you as well, and the strongest bonds begin to form.  You feel as if you have finally found a connection with people who truly understand and care for you.  They become your tribe, your support system, and your friends for life!

This morning I downloaded Joyce Meyer Ministries from the App Store and began listening while I entered invoices into our accounting software system at work.  I have always enjoyed Joyce and found her preaching to be right on the mark.  (Others may not agree, but my blog is not the place for a debate.  If you aren’t a fan of Joyce Meyer, you are welcome to move right along to another site.)

Today’s message was Part 1 of Loving Difficult People.  We all have difficult people in our lives we are forced to deal with, whether it’s an irritating coworker or someone known for smarting off at you every chance they get.  We can leave our place of employment or attempt to avoid the offender at all cost but there is no getting away from difficult people as we will continue to encounter them all throughout our lives.  The challenge here is to LOVE them even while they are being difficult.  Whew.  This is not a small task at times, is it?

Here’s a thought – maybe WE are even someone else’s “difficult person.”  How’s that for taking a step back and locking eyes with the person in the mirror.   Hmmm.  It gives us something to think about, doesn’t it?

The thing is to love the person, even when they are being difficult or hard to get along with.  Maybe give yourself some time to analyze why they are being difficult in certain situations.  While we can’t read someone else’s mind and know their heart, we can try to put ourselves in their shoes from time to time.

Something Joyce said this morning in her message moved me to jot it down on my yellow legal pad I keep on my desk for notes.

“You can feel like doing the wrong thing and still choose to do the right thing.”  Joyce Meyer  

Let’s be honest.  When someone cuts you off in traffic, there are times you might want to give them the one finger wave when they look back in the rearview mirror at you.  We have all felt rage well up inside of us, but we can choose NOT to let it take charge.  Because we are human, we want to get back at them, but because we are Christians, we are to love them even when they do such things to us.  You have free will, so of course you could rage at them.  However, it takes a much stronger person to choose to extend grace to them.

We truly don’t know what people are going through in their lives to know why they act the way they do.  Some may have just had a hard day at work or maybe even received bad news.  Maybe they aren’t really thinking of cutting you off at all.  They could just be in their own heads due to the information they learned through a disturbing phone call and the vehicle moves over into your lane giving the appearance of just down right being ugly to you when that wasn’t their intent at all.

It’s so easy to jump to conclusions on why this person was being difficult with you.  It is much harder to extend grace and act in love.  The choice is yours, and doing the right thing will leave you feeling wonderful in the end.

Think about this the next time you want to have a knee jerk reaction.

My beautiful friend, Anita, has inspired me to join her “Write 28 Days” challenge.  It is extremely beneficial to take time for yourself and rewarding when you have a sense of accomplishment after having done something you have a passion for.  If writing is your thing, we encourage you to join in!

For more information, click here!