So here's the news...

I used to be a news reporter. Honest. They called me "Scoop Kennedy". My biggest interview was Senator Chuck Grassley about the Farm Crisis. Only at the time I knew absolutely nothing about farming. But I sounded like I did.

Now I know more about farming and less about the news. I detest bad news. I can't watch newscasters because I am always yelling at the TV, "Hurt! Not injured!" and "No duh. Get on with the story!" and various other insults that Thee Farmer just rolls his eyes at. I hate when reporters give graphic information that NO ONE needs to know. You can tell me a child was abducted but please spare me the details of that little angels demise. You can tell me about earthquakes but I don't need to know that someone had their head severed - or whatever. I can picture things just fine. Thank you.

Which makes me think about Facebook. Even Twitter. Both of which I use. Both of which I truly believe have some useful purpose but they can never replace the power of a well thought out sentence or sharing the full story. And then there are the over-sharers and the drama queens. For far too long I have limited my writing to quick little sentences. I have replaced real friendships with creeping on people's walls and occasionally commenting on their posts or sharing their memes. We lose connection. Oh, we feel like we are connected because so and so was my best friend in Junior High, and look, she just added me on Facebook. Now we can catch up and reminisce.

But what if we really connected? Not with our 732 friends on Fakebook - but with one or two REAL, LIVE friends? If we called, encouraged, challenged and held each other accountable? If we didn't post "Praying" on a status but actually called and prayed with them? What would happen if we walked alongside each other and actually lived and didn't hide behind a screen? If we stopped taking selfies and instead started giving of ourselves? Thee Real You and Me.

Don't think it matters? Take a second and call one friend that you really love and haven't connected with in awhile. Call her and say, "Hello! I was thinking about you..." and let it go from there.

Then come back and tell me how awesome it made you feel.

Keep encouraging. Keep loving. The World is not lost. It just needs us to connect. One person at a time.

And that's the news at 5. I'm Scoop Kennedy reporting live from Thee Farm.

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