#SocialExperiment called HashMob

This is a new idea I have been drumming up in my head and I wanted to share and get some feedback from my readers. As always, I am very thankful for your support!

#MOB, pronounced "Hash Mob" is an idea that incorporates suggestions and opinions of the people around us and lists them in an easy to access manner for later use. We define #MOB as an online place to "Hash it out". Have you ever been driving around looking for a good place to eat and your mind is blank? Yes there is Urban Spoon and many other sites that offer suggestions based on location and reviews but sometimes all we want or need is a simple list of suggestions. #MOB is exactly that!

Over the last few months we have been asking for suggestions on Coffee shops, restaurants, things to do on a holiday weekend, etc via social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. When we do this, we actually get some pretty valuable responses but have had no real way of displaying those for later use. We started creating some images and lists but really they are not easily accessible for future use unless you print them out. Where do you keep these printed out lists? Exactly...you don't!

Currently our website, HashMob.com is under construction and is expected to be launched sometime in September. For now, we are working to grow our user base via our Facebook page @#MOB. At different times through out any given day we will post certain categories or Hashtags (#) with the idea being that our fans and followers will comment and help us create these useful lists. We hope that many will get involved, including small business owners looking to get free advertising for their business. As our user base grows beyond Austin we will start to separate the lists by location.

Below are some examples of the type of information you can find on #MOB

#BreakfastTacos

#healthyeats

#WedHappyHour

#bucketlist

#BYOB

#badcustomerservice


The list can go on and on and the great part about #MOB is that we encourage our users to create their own Hashtags (#). This site is for the people so you can create any category you want and see if the community will support it and help you build it. Nothing inappropriate please, thanks.

Click the gray text below to "Like" our Page:

#MOB on Facebook

If you like what we are doing, please help us spread the word! Thank you so much for your support #blessed

Hashin' it out
-EC

not the way you live, but why you live.

So today I had one of those light bulb moments in which God spoke to my heart. The thought occurred to me that it is not about the way you live, but rather why you live. What I am learning is that being a person of God does not mean you have to change who you are and what you do. You see if God wanted us to be something different than who we are, wouldn't He have made us that way?

It often seems that being a christian, or a believer in your God, for that matter, means that you have to "be good" or "be like them"! The truth is that God loves you exactly for who you are and in fact He made you that way on purpose. He is, however, a jealous God and wants to be first in your life. That does not mean He wants to be the only, just the first. In fact, God loves you so much that He wants to provide many things to you and pour out his blessings in your life. He wishes that you could handle those things and keep Him above all. I catch myself every day forgetting about who God is and what he has blessed me with. For that reason, God has to either remind me or limit what He gives me. God doesn't want me to stop selling real estate or doing business, at least for now. God wants me to do business for God. Its about spreading His word, sharing the Gospel with more people, and extending His grace to everyone possible.

Yesterday in church they talked about living your life for God. They talked about how the artists need to work their hardest to paint the most amazing pictures to share the beauty God has created. The called the musicians to play beautiful songs and remind the world how great His creations are. They called me and you to change, not how we live, but why. With this mentality we become a better city, a better nation, a better people. We become brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends.

The call is not for us to change our lives or change who are but to understand why we are who we are and live that out in our everyday lives. It is no coincidence that last weekend I started thinking about how I need to reconnect with a good friend that is one of the strongest followers of God I know. Of course, being distracted by everything that is around me, I put it off. No joke, today I received an email from him after I already started writing this post. The email, of course, was about individuality and how God wants us to be exactly as He made us. That to me is mind blowing that God is aware of what is going on in my head and meets me in that exact place. #PraiseGod

The good news is that you and I can continue to be who we are. We can continue to
live out our lives and only need to alter the reason we live. Being a follower of God does not mean we have to be perfect or be a certain way. The bible tells us that we are in fact shackled by our sin and that through God we become free to be who we really are!

"Everyone who sins is a slave to sin" ~ John 8:34

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" ~John 8:31-32

Think about it!
-EC