Top Tweets | 04/25/13.

Thank goodness it’s Thursday! Time for top tweets in my feed from this week:

FUNNIEST:

Thank you person who searched ?????????? ???????? to find my blog. I now know how to write “Catholic Hipster” in Russian. #gratefultweet
— Edmund Mitchell (@EdmundMitchell) April 23, 2013

MOST INSPIRING (if you aren’t inspired by this I don’t understand you):

Missed Abby’s “A Whole New World” duet w/ Arnold @schwarzenegger this morning? Here it is: snd.sc/ZIqVAK …& again we’re sorry :]
— Spirit FM 90.5 (@Spiritfm905) April 24, 2013

MOST ENCOURAGING:

If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze! ~St. Catherine of Sienna
— 4Catholics (@4Catholics) April 22, 2013

MOST CHALLENGING BUT TRUE:

“Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said.” ~Voltaire #WisdomGainedByExperience! ;o)
— Cathie (@Cathie_amdg) April 23, 2013

BEST PHOTO (courtesy of my brother, and not from this week but I make the Top Tweets rules, #boom):

This bird is chirping right in my face and pooped on the table #birdsarejerks twitter.com/M_Spenc/status…
— Mike (with an M) (@M_Spenc) March 14, 2013

Tragedy and unity.

A week ago a couple of bombs constructed out of pressure cookers and hate wreaked havoc on the Boston Marathon finish line. The attack resulted in loss of life and limb, and – for a few days – freedom, while law enforcement shut down the city to search for suspects.

Tragedy.

A few days after the bombing, a fertilizer factory in Texas exploded, rocking the town of West for blocks, knocking surrounding buildings off their foundations, killing or injuring the unsuspecting people in and outside the factory, within the affected radius.

Tragedy.

In the wake of the Boston attack, Boston PD and the FBI and other agencies that don’t routinely converge on a city and work together so closely worked together. The New York Yankees displayed a Boston Red Sox logo at Yankee Stadium, out of compassion for the city that’s home to the team, albeit a rival. Citizens of Boston threw an impromptu street party after law enforcement arrested the second suspect. People who don’t even know each other broke into spontaneous song, holding up cell phones while shouting the national anthem.

Unity.

After the explosion in Texas, I imagine many Americans – like I – sat stunned in front of a TV, shocked and saddened by the sight and sound of a shattered community. Pope Francis tweeted a prayer to his millions of followers, 16.8K of whom have retweeted it so far. People in (and I’m sure outside of) Texas donated “essential items,” gift cards, cash, and blood to people they’ll never meet.

Unity.

Amazes me every time the way tragedy can propel us toward unity. It reminds me of funerals, of God using what nobody likes to draw us back together, and closer to Him.

[Q&A – Dating] How do I know if the feelings are mutual?

The Q: How do I know if the feelings are mutual when I’m interested in someone?

The A: The short answer: You’ll know by the time you need to know.

The long answer: Sometimes we want to know now whether he or she likes me or he or she doesn’t, that our expectations align, that the meaning I attach to my experience is the same as the meaning he attaches to his.

In either case, we might over think, or dissect and diagnose. We poll our friends for their opinions about what it means that a guy didn’t respond to your text, or that a girl didn’t favorite your tweet. We want for Action A + Action B to = Best Case Scenario (as far as our opinions are concerned).

But your friends aren’t mind readers (and neither are you). There is no formula.

Our pursuit of one – or of “signs,” or of a friend’s opinion that turns out to be fact – might be fruitless. In it, a person eludes the only two reliable sources for the answers to his or her questions:

Time, and the person we want to date.

When you aren’t sure the person you like likes you back, consider this:

“Wait and see” isn’t as bad as it sounds. Patience is not the antithesis to persistence. Patience is part of persistence.

And if you really need to know now…

Ask.

– – – –

This post is part of an occasional series called Q&A. Click here to read all the posts from it.

[Q&A – Dating] Can a guy be persistent but not annoying?

The Q: “How does a guy be persistent without being annoying? Possible?”

The A: Short version: Totally.

Long version: Persistence is pursuit despite difficulty. Dedication in the face of opposition. Most relationships require some of it. Some relationships require more of it than others. In dating, persistence isn’t necessarily bad if what’s “opposed” to your pursuit is, say, time or money or distance. It is bad, however, if what’s opposed to it is the person you’re trying to date.

Ultimately, only she – the woman with whom you’re persistent – can discern the difference between persistent and annoying. This is because for most of us, you’re “persistent” if we like you and “annoying” if we don’t. But for some women, “persistent” and “annoying” are synonymous.

There is only one way to find out.

In the process, we learn a lot about each other. What we do and don’t want in spouses. We discern what all of us must:

Whether getting together makes sense. Whether we’ll make good spouses and parents. Whether the world needs a kid who could turn into one of us. Whether the pursuit, establishment, and maintenance of this contributes to the greater glory of God.

And regarding a guy who pursues a woman despite difficulty, she must discern whether his pursuit is persistent or annoying.

If you like her…

let her.

#WorthIt. 🙂

– – – –

This post is part of an occasional series called Q&A. Click here to read all the posts from it.

Top Tweets | 04/18/13.

Happy Thursday! Since the blogosphere pros propelled me with words (and probably magical powers) to return to Twitter, I’ve made a compelling discovery: I KIND OF LIKE IT. While I am still up for talking you out of using social media (which is to relationships what fast food is to nutrition), there are perks to following good people. You can expect, then, that I’ll occasionally share the top tweets in my feed (as defined solely by my opinion [#itsmyblog&illdowhatiwantto]). Here are the top tweets from this week:

FUNNIEST:

OH on #Pasco scanner: Baby alligator loitering at drain of Dade City car wash. #gogators
— Bridget Grumet (@bgrumettimes) April 15, 2013

MOST INSPIRING:

“No one is ever holy without suffering.” – Evelyn Waugh
— Catholic Thinker (@ThinkerCatholic) April 14, 2013

MOST ENCOURAGING (A reformed Protestant quoting the pope, let alone a Catholic? #awesome.):

“Inconsistency on the part of pastors & the faithful between what they say & do is undermining the church’s credibility.” –Pope Francis
— Mark Driscoll (@PastorMark) April 16, 2013

MOST CHALLENGING BUT TRUE:

I find there’s often a direct correlation between praying very little and being under immense stress.
— Tyler Braun (@tylerbraun) April 18, 2013

BEST PHOTO (heck yes that’s the sky over my state! #IloveFL):

Beau.ti.ful. #socialfresh twitter.com/RyanEggenberge…
— Ryan Eggenberger (@RyanEggenberger) April 17, 2013