Virtue Alert 101

I realize that many of you have no idea where “Virtue Alert” originated and the story behind its oh-so-humble beginnings. Consider this a crash course of sorts. The idea for a sound-the-alarm “virtue alert” warning to parents was birthed on February 1, 2004. I was sitting in my game room with a gaggle of teens watching the live half-time performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII. You might remember it. It was the one where Janet Jackson decided to flash her bare bosom to the entire free world without giving a moment's thought to the fallout it would produce in homes across America.

It was in those hyper-ventilating moments following the bosom-flashing debacle that I found myself wishing for a forum to rant about such virtue-less atrocities with fellow concerned parents. You know, like the frustration of having to explain to a ten year-old what a "starburst nipple shield” was (as if I knew!) and why a woman who's nearly my age would feel a need to have one much less show it off to a watching world. Sigh.

Another year would go by before my desire to vent on a larger scale would blossom into an online reality. In 2005, on the heels of countless MySpace creepy predator stories, pantieless popstar mishaps, and more anything-but-virtuous events that left concerned moms and dads scratching their heads in disbelief, Virtue Alert came to be. It originally began as an email "alert" to subscribers and was delivered monthly to their inboxes. At the end of 2006, Virtue Alert morphed into an actual blog where readers could offer their own comments and in some cases, form a unified force to take action against key virtue offenders. If you haven't subscribed to receive Virtue Alert updates in your inbox (now delivered weekly), stop and click here to do that right now! We'll wait for you. (Vicki whistling and drumming fingers)

After getting my feet wet in the blogging world by posting about once every week or two in the first half of 2007, I discovered in the process that I actually love to blog—--and not just about Virtue Alert related-topics. Today, I post entries about 3-4 times a weeks on topics ranging from bittersweet college drop-offs and flashbacks to the past (Flashback Fridays) to an occasional rant about a hoochie mama sighting or one of my adorable Yorkies eating my manuscript (true story). Oh, and just in case my kids (20, 18, and 15) are reading this and accuse me of loving the dogs more, I blog about them too...when they give me permission. :)

As a speaker and author, blogging has also afforded me the awesome privilege of getting to know many of you who are in my speaking and reading audience. And let me tell you a little secret: Sometimes those of us who write the books and stand on the platform wish we could just pal around with you and your posse for a day and chat it up over a cup of coffee. While I can’t stop by on a regular basis to many of your blogs, I love to drop in on occasion and read about you and your sweet family and hear about your own journey of faith.

So, there you have it. That is the story of how this blog came to be. Today, it reaches a wide assortment of folks, including moms, dads, teens, college students, singles, ministry leaders, and even a few dog-lovers who tune in for an occasional (ahem, weekly?) Yorkie post. And while I won't be sending a thank you note to Janet Jackson for providing the inspiration behind this blog, I am thankful to discover that I'm not alone in my desire to see a revival for good-ol'-fashioned Godly virtue.

Thank you so much for stopping by. If you have any topics/questions/news stories you would like to let me know about or see me address in the future, please email my Assistant, Shawna. I certainly don't claim to be an expert, but together, I pray we can join forces in an effort to initiate positive change.

Oh, and if you have a blog, please comment with the address so I can stop by sometime and say “hi.” Even if you don't have a blog, please let me know your first name, so I can say a prayer for you. In the meantime, please accept this cyber gift:



Maybe someday, we can grab a real cup and solve the problems of the world!