Clint and I use some advanced tools to keep an eye on the blog. Our children are featured on the blog, so it is wise to record visitors and their patterns.
We can see visitors, where they are located, their IP, and what operating system they run, what and how many pages they click, how long they stay on those pages, if they open our email link, how frequently they visit, if their cookies are enabled or not, what links they click, etc. We can even obtain the street address in some instances.
If they access Contentment Acres from another location with their computer, we can pick up on that too. Their habits can also tell us who they are even when they are using a different device or location. We can also pull an IP from an email to verify visitors. We can tell if our url is stored on a computer or if they searched the internet for it. We can tell if it is a person who has an interest in our family vs someone looking for information we've shared. We can tell when the modem has been reset and a new IP address has been assigned at a location we've been tracking. There's more we can glean from our tools, but you get the picture.
Clint and I have several years worth of frequent visitors' visits saved in case we ever have to contact law enforcement. There's no need for someone to lie about checking in on our family ...unless they have something to hide. If they are a decent person with honorable intentions, we see their visit to the blog as a good thing.
Lying about it makes us question their intentions. I mean, WHY would someone deny it? Think about what that communicates to us when we KNOW otherwise...especially when we have several years' worth of visits and proof it is them. Now, what if we had a bad history with that person? And that person says they want to be a part of our lives..but we catch them lying over something this small?
Here's the deal for the one who told us no one in their house ever visits our blog:
This is written with love in an effort to head off mistrust... We know and have over 1,000 logged hits from your street and other locations you have used over the last several years. Yes, it's that many. Clint and I highly value honesty ad being upfront (telling truth at first opportunity instead of only when necessary). If you will lie about something this small, we know we can't trust you very far. Open doors can become narrow based on your words and actions.
Gently said..when you lie, you represent the father of lies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in checking in on us, but lying about it is shameful. Being honest will draw you closer to the Lord which will bring you blessings. Let's put God and His way of doing things first as we go forward, so we don't end up back at the same place.
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Ephesians 4:25
Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. Proverbs 13:13
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28
