Dear Faith Barista Friends,

I wanted to take a moment to let you know how much your encouragement has meant to me. In bloggy land, that means we snatch a virtual moment together through comments, faith jamming — or simply sharing silent thoughts together.

I wanted you to know your presence here makes a difference.  To me and to others who are reading.

A friend once asked me how I can write transparently on Faith Barista.  I tell her, it’s probably because when I write, my voice finds its home.

I grew up fast as the oldest in a single parent home, in an 800 square foot space.  The one place I could call my own, where I felt free, wasn’t a corner or room.  It was me in front of my journal, Bic pen scrawling on pages.  I’m a mommy and grown up now.  But, that place inside me — where I meet with God between ink, dreams and prayers — is still where I share from, with you here as faith friends.

Wouldn’t It Be Great

Not everyone feels comfortable slipping in comments, but whenever you have, your words have stayed with me.  I read every word as gifts and I am grateful for the company. Every time I write, I am thankful for you.

You let me know I’m not alone. Through your stories and your hellos, I find kindred spirits on this journey with Jesus.

A few months ago, I decided to jump into Facebook and created a page.  I’m still getting used to Facebooking, but one thing I didn’t expect was how fun it is to see your faces!  Everyone places an image with their name, so it feels warm and cozy.

So, I thought: wouldn’t it be great to “see” you here on Faith Barista too?

In case you’ve wondered why some people’s pictures show up in the comments section and some don’t (I get asked this fairly regularly via email), I’d like to share how to create a GRAVATAR today.

Since the weekend is coming up, maybe you’ll be tinkering on the computer.  I’d love to “see” you when you visit here, so I took some screen shots of the process and outlined it below.  It only takes 5 Easy Steps To Create a Gravatar.

Which Picture Is You?

So, what is a Gravatar?

“Your Gravatar is an image that follows you from site to site appearing beside your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog.” ~ Gavatar.com

When you create a gravatar account, you assign an email address to an uploaded image.  Then, whenever you drop comments on blogs using your email address (not just on Faith Barista), the image you uploaded gets pulled and shows up.

In lieu of an actual photo, some people choose an icon instead —  an image they feel represents them.  So, for camera shy readers, feel free to snap a pic of your fave coffee drink!

Interested? Here we go…

5 Easy Steps To Create a Gravatar account

Step 1: Create a Gravatar account

Click here to get to the sign up screen.  Enter the email address you use when submitting comments.

Step 2: Active Your Account

You’ll receive an email from Gravatar with the subject: “Welcome To Gravatar”.  Click on the link to activate your account.

Step 3: Choose your Username and Password

After you click to activate, you’ll be asked to pick a Username and a password.

Step 4: Upload your image

You can click to add your image now.  (You can always click the top tab “My Account” for a pull-down menu and choose “Add An Image”.)

Step 5: Adding an image

When you click “Add an image”, you’ll see four ways to do it —

After you’ve created a Gravator — or even if you don’t —  share a thanksgiving or prayer request below. It would be great to remember each other in prayer this weekend.  I just finished a big project I’ve been daring to try. I’ll be celebrating with a trip to my fave bakery and enjoying some quiet downtime.

Thank you again for your encouragement.   The time you take to visit and add your voice here is valued, more than you know.

Whatever your plans are for the weekend — I hope you enjoy some downtime too.

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What are your plans for the weekend?

Would you like to share a thanksgiving or prayer?

Pull up a chair. Click to share a comment or subscribe by email.

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Photo courtesy of stewie144028 via Photobucket.