This is, I believe my first ever thread that I have actually started on the CB. I could be wrong, but it doesn't really matter. I don't want to run the risk of hijacking someone else's thread - especially if some of the folks who are my friends happen to read my comments and jump in.
Folks, this is a community board. Think about your section of town, your community, for a moment. Do you know everyone in your section of town? What about on your street? Do you know everyone on your street? We live in a particular section of town that is not gated, but we are kind of on the outskirts, you might say, of a subdivision. We know some of the people that live around us. Most of the people we know well are a part of our church. That is not an exhaustive group. The lady across the street is a good friend - in fact, I did the funeral for her husband about 6 months ago, cause they didn't have a church. We are aquainted with lots of folks in our neighborhood, but to say we're close to all of them would be a lie.
Does it mean that we choose to associate more often with a few folks because we want to be a clique? Heck no! It just means we have more in common with those folks and enjoy each other's company. Doesn't mean we don't like other folks. When new people move into the neighborhood and we are aware of it, we try and welcome them - and invite them to church!
But that doesn't make our small group of friends a clique.
In fact, now that I'm thinking about it - let me use a church example - seeing as how that is the nearest and dearest thing to my heart. In church, whether its large or small, there are small groups. Sometimes those small groups can be bad. People wanting to control things, etc. But take my church for example. We have doubled in size in about 2 years. There are more new people now than there were 'old' people when we first moved there.
There's no way all those folks are going to get to know each other. They are varied in age, experience, needs, interests, etc. What we try to do is to encourage folks to get to know each other - but to also get involved in a small group. It's in the small groups that relationships are built, trust begins to happen, and a deepening of faith can occur. When someone is connected in some way to a small group, be it the choir, a Sunday School class, a women's group, or whatever, the church begins to be a home, rather than just the place you go to worship on Sundays.
That's what we're trying to build - knowing that everyone isn't going to know everyone else. But if they are able to build some relationships, it will keep them from feeling lost in the crowd.
I say all that to say this. This whole issue about cliques on the DIS is crazy. I can't speak for any of the other threads that are clique threads. I'm only a part of one of them - the Maelstrom thread. Are there inside jokes sometimes? Yeah. But that's only cause these folks have been posting together for some months now. There's a lot of funny, silly stories that can come out of months of conversations back and forth. And unless you keep up with it every day, you will miss out.
These threads are not like Soap Operas (most of the time) where you can miss it for a year, and then turn it on and have the people still dealing with the same stuff. Real life moves fast. On the Maelstrom thread, we share silly stories, some more appropriate than others probably, but we share concerns that we have, celebrations that we have. We basically are sharing life with each other. If something funny happens during the day, someone posts it. If someone has had a particularly bad day, they post it. In the midst of all that, little phrases are tossed in that are considered "inside jokes" but its all because we have gotten to know each other so well - at least as well as you can on an internet discussion board.
Has the Maelstrom crew always been welcoming? No. Are we perfect in every way? As Mary Poppins says, we're just practically perfect. We still make mistakes. On occasion.
But here's the thing - if you come on to a thread and feel like you're lost, you have two options.
A. Stick around, post and try to catch up.
B. Go somewhere else.
When a newcomer comes to my church, we share with them all of the small groups that are available so that they can try them all if they wish until they find their place. If we don't have the place they're looking for, we encourage them to make their own place. We encourage all our small groups to be open and welcoming. Are they always? Probably not. Does every person fit into every small group? No! Will they fit somewhere - even if they start their own? Yes.
Folks, if you go into a so called clique thread and you don't feel comfortable, then find another place. I think it is silly to sit around and whine because you haven't fit into every single place on this board. The other thing is, why keep going back? If you feel uncomfortable, why torture yourself by continuing to return to a place you don't really want to be in the first place?
Maybe I'm silly. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way. Maybe I'm just tired of all the drama. But dadgummit folks, there's no sense in all this. Anyone is welcome to come to the Maelstrom thread. Will it take you a while to get on board with everything? Yeah probably. Will you understand why we're Maelstromers in the first place? Probably not unless you ask. Will you know all the ins and outs immediately? No way! Remember, most of us have been posting together for months. If you come, post every once in a while. Don't be a thread hog and post 50 times in an hour. Ask a question. Say hello. Post a picture that has to do with Vikings. I don't care. If you get ignored at first, please don't think its personal. Perhaps the thread is busy that day. Perhaps it's totally dead and no one is around. Post again, ask the question again. PM someone.
But for crying out loud, don't just sit back and whine.
We have a rule that we have taught our 4 year old son. It is as follows: Nobody likes a whiner. Don't be a whiner.
I come to the DIS for fun, information, and now to stay in touch with the friends my wife and I have made on here. Being a pastor can be a lonely job at times. Often, only other pastors and their families can really understand what it's like to do what we do. But, for whatever reason, God has given us the gift of having met some really nice people on the DIS. We've had lunch with a couple of them. We're meeting a whole bunch of them at Disney in a few months. It has been nice to meet this group of people I call my friends. I like having friends. If you're not the bride of Chuckie, or a crazy stalker type person, I'd like to be your friend. I'd love to tell you about the God I serve and how awesome He is. PM me if you wanna know more.
Let's get over all this clique mess and whining about this and that. If you want to be a part of a particular thread, post on it. If you find that's not the place for you - start your own.
Nuff said.
Blessings!
MarkyMark
Bad Gator, bad, bad. 
lmao: I slay myself!)
