IRL (In the Real World): For years I have been watchful of our families Internet usage. Not a week goes by when I don't hear about someone getting abducted or abused by someone that they met on the Internet. I personally know of a woman who "fell in love" with someone on the Internet, only to find that her Prince Charming was a 56 year old man who was unemployed and the father of 5 (not the international businessman that he claimed, or the 40 something hunk that he sent as his picture). In our small town near us a girl (15) made her way to the big city to meet up with a boy that she met on the Internet, only to be assaulted by the 35 year old man that had been posing as a young teen.

So when we decided to allow IM and blogs I thought that it would be a good idea to watch who they are chatting with and e-mailing. So you won't be surprised when someone admitted that they had met someone on the Internet and they wanted to go spend a night in a hotel in Nashville to meet with them. Okay, maybe a little surprised. I decided that we might want to back up and think twice about this. I finally convinced my wife that this may not be all that it appears and she met her friend today at church and then we all went to lunch afterwards.

It was pretty cool actually, a lot better than I had thought that it would be. The woman was someone that she met in a home schooling discussion board and was in the area for a family reunion. So we met for a few hours and I am sure that this will not be the last meeting, really nice lady.