Confessions from a girl geek

I'll start with a confession. I am a girl geek.

Today was one of the times that I felt really great about being a girl geek. A woman from our church phoned me for advice on how to protect their home computer from the internet.... ...and it was one of the first times I felt "unleashed" in my girl geek ministry.

You see, for the past seven years, I have worked full-time in the computer world - with internet content, programming and networking. I have been in hundreds of meetings where I am the only woman in the room. Although I'm not a programmer, I like hearing about how to set up databases, variables, programming content management systems and syndicating content. Sometimes, I'll admit... I GET the geek jokes and actually laugh along.

It has taken me the better part of these seven years to be "ok" that I'm so different than other women (in my circles). I have a suspicion that there are more girl geeks out there, but not everyone is tipping their hand. I've had to figure out how to balance my career life with my social life, knowing that in most instances, geek-talk will clear the room pretty quickly. People's eyes glaze over, they start to snore, they suddenly need to top up their coffee.... it's just not that interesting to most women.

It's not like the boy geeks readily accept me, either. Sometimes, I have to toss out some key "geek terminology" to get accepted in their circles, but even still... I'm a girl... and I'm not a hard-core geek. I can follow some of their "geekology", but at some point, I can't keep up there, either. Sometimes, it feels pretty lonely to be a girl-geek. I will say, though, that some of the highest compliments I have ever received are from hard-core geeks who like the way I've solved a problem in the geek-zone.

So, today, when a woman was trying to figure out where to turn for advice about protecting her family computer, she thought of me. And when we talked, we bonded - the way women do - and also discussed a topic that she knew was important - but it wasn't something she understands... and I helped her. I liked that - alot. I'm going over to her home next week to install and configure some software for her family computer.... and I can hardly wait!

So here's to the girl-geeks out there. Show yourselves! Let's have a ministry together - as only girl-geeks can!

What did I recommend for protecting her computer from porn sites and other websites?
To find out click here.