Toenail Fungus and Salty Speech

 

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about toenail fungus.  If you’re a reader of my blog, chances are this has crossed your mind as well.  A dear friend of mine sent me a screen shot of the ad that appeared smack in the middle of my last post:

Gross, right?  I’ve pondered this, and several things stand out.

Apparently, WordPress or AdSense, or whoever is responsible for choosing the ads that appear here seem to think toenail fungus is a real problem among my online friends.  Apparently it’s epidemic among people who seek out blogs that talk about faith and family and homeschooling.  

Seriously?  Wouldn’t it be more effective to put ads here that pertain to Christianity or homeschooling or motherhood?  Hmmm.  It must simply be a random thing, yes?

But then, one must consider that these ads cost the company that paid for it, so it must somehow be cost-effective.  That means enough people click on the ad to find !immediate! relief from toenail fungus to make it worth their while.  Who’d have thought?

Now, I don’t mind ads.  I have always figured it’s simply the price for enjoying a free WordPress site.  After all, the good folks at WordPress take care of all the technical stuff for us poor writers who want to focus on writing, and those tech-gods have mouths to feed, right?  No big deal.

Well, it used to be no big deal when the ads politely waited until I’m done talking, sitting at the end of the post like a well-trained child who patiently waits for mommy to stop talking to someone else.  It was civilized.

But I suppose it must not have been terribly effective.  We’ve all seen what happens when mommy continually ignores that sweet, well-trained child.  They get louder…’mommy, mommy, moMMY, MOMMY!!!’, eventually frantically waving his arms and stepping between the negligent mama and whoever she’s giving her attention to.

In the same way, I would guess the ads were simply feeling unseen, respectfully sitting there at the end of things.  So now that they’re raising such an obnoxious ruckus, I feel it’s time to leave the world of free blogging and actually pay my nominal yearly fee to keep disturbing pictures of toenail fungus and facial spots away.  If you see any here after this, please do let me know.

But then my mind continued to ponder it.  I’m seeing the same thing in other, more fancy blogs, in professional news articles, and now on YouTube.  Ads are breaking into whatever it is I’m reading or watching, often in mid-sentence, disrupting my flow of thought in a most unpleasant fashion.  There is a cognitive dissonance, and in the confusion of sorting out what the heck is going on, the original effect the author intended is diminished.

As I pondered this, my indignation beginning to rise, I was suddenly reminded of a visit I had a few days ago.  I had been weary from a two week long pain-fest and was chatting with a sweet friend when my frustration manifested with some rather salty speech.  At the time, my conscience was pricked, but I spoke the words anyway, feeling somehow justified in my pain.  But upon reflection, is that any different than an obnoxious ad on my blog?  

My life is to be a reflection of my Savior.  My greatest desire is that others will be able to read the message of Christ’s love and grace in my words and actions.  My salty speech that night was a complete disruption of my Author’s intended message.  It is out of place and diminishes the reflection of Him I want to be.  Ouch!

So, as I dig out my credit card to remove gross ads from my blog, I shall dig into my Father’s word to remove the foulness from my vocabulary.  What a funny musing this has turned out to be; I never thought that toe fungus would lead to conviction!

Have a blessed weekend, my friends.  May all our viewing be ad free and our speech be sweet, yes?

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.    (Psalm 19:14, Berean Study Bible)

Grace and peace,

🌸Rebeca

 

Photo (the beautiful one!) by Charles Thompson, courtesy of Pixabay.