This is a guest post from a very dear friend of mine – Krystal from the blog Musings from Mom School. She has been supportive and loyal to me for the past few years. Even though we have never met in person, I could not imagine not knowing her. I think her guest post sums up how well you can grow friendships through online connections. I don’t think I could have said it better myself. Read on…

Back before I became a mother, I was a newspaper reporter. I was all over town, all the time. If something was going on (and it was in my coverage area) I was there. People knew me. I even had a couple people call me a local celebrity. I wouldn't go that far, but I live in a relatively small town, so I couldn't really go anywhere without seeing people I knew, and seeing people that knew me.

Then, I had my son Logan and all of a sudden that was my life. I was at home, alone, all day every day with this baby. I was his life. He was mine. That was enough.

After a year or so, I started visiting a fitness forum online because I was looking for a little guidance to help me lose the baby weight. I found the tools I needed to help me get rid of those last 15 pounds, and I found something else as well.

People.
Good people.
Nice people.
Fun people.
(People like Tina!)

I've never been one for chat rooms and such, but on this fitness forum, I kind of hooked up with a small group of girls and oh, the fun we had getting to know each other. And here and there, we've met up. Personally, I've met two of the girls in person, and I stay in touch online with several of them, even though I don't visit that forum anymore. It was something of a sanity saver for a stay-at-home-mom.

Then I noticed some of the girls were disappearing from the forum in favor of blogging. I didn't even really know what a blog was (yeah, I know, I know...). I looked at their blogs and eventually, once I was off bed rest and had given birth to my second child and had become somewhat human again rather than a zombie, decided to start a blog of my own.

Blogging opened up a whole new world of people. The sheer number of bloggers out there is staggering, and there are bloggers on every topic imaginable. Each week, it seems, I am directed to yet another blog that I want to read. It's so difficult to pick and choose, but I have to or I would end up online all day, every day.

Some bloggers, like Tina, are friends from that fitness forum, and I feel blessed that I get to still be a part of their lives and keep up with them. For even though I may not ever meet most of them in person, we have shared, laughed, cried and cared for each other over the Internet. We pray for each other when need be, we support each other, praise each other, tease each other and feel pure joy when good things happen to the others. That's friendship, even if we have never even seen each other's faces.

The internet is still amazing to me. I know it's been around for a while now, but the ways in which it has changed our lives is staggering. Information on just about anything is so easy to obtain. Want a recipe? Google it. What's that rash? Google it. How do you make this or that? Look on YouTube. Miss your favorite TV show or want to lust after some hot actor? Click click click. You're in.

But for me, a stay-at-home-mom, the internet has been more than just a place to look up stuff. It's been my coffee shop. That place I go to talk to friends, vent frustrations, share happy events. I look forward to checking Facebook and seeing what my girls have been up to. I hang on the edge of my seat waiting for wedding photos or *ahem* pregnancy test results. It's adult conversation. It's entertainment. IT MEANS I AM NOT ALONE, JUST TALKING KID TALK ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Frankly, I don't know what I would do without it.

• What ways has the Internet changed for you since blogging?
• Do you feel closer to blogging friends than some of your IRL (in real life) friends? I know I sure feel closer to you all than I do to certain friends.

Tags: guest post