Can I ask you a hard question?
Does blogging grow your joy? Not just does it bring you occasional joy, but does it grow your joy?
Does it give or take away your peace, your sense of contentment and your view of yourself?
Does it remind you that you are part of a community larger than yourself?
Does it inspire you to greater action, greater love, greater contemplation?
Or does it make you feel small?
I’m worried about your answer. And I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. Because sometimes this world of blogging can become just one more opportunity for the biggest liar of them all to tell you that you don’t measure up.
Wanna know my idea of the antidote? And yes, it does include s’mores! Come and keep reading with me over at (in) courage today.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for bringing up this topic… I am sure many people feel this. I do as well. But I am determined to write and live only for God. To get my identity only from His love for me. Period. It’s easier said than done however. And I am finding there a certain steps I need to take in my life to make sure that I am only getting my joy, meaning, and purpose from Jesus. And sometimes it hurts, but I know in the end I will truly know HIM more.
Blessings Friend!
Charissa
You are lovely and beautiful and loved and thank you for sharing your brave heart with us!
My answer to this is simply “at times”
dear gypsy momma;
I’m not a blogger, but we all still tend to base our value on other people’s opinions.
When God’s opinion is the only one that matters. I have to remind myself very often.
photo; I love the wrap around canvas – where did you get it?
Hi there Emilie –
Yes, the canvas is lovely isn’t it. Thanks for saying hi. You can order them from DaySpring here http://shop.dayspring.com
This is a great post – and it definitely made me reflect on the path my blog has taken over the last year. It started out as a private online journal, then I felt God nudging me to make it public. Now I have days where I feel obligated to post something…anything…just so I can keep my 3 readers happy
I’ve also discovered the joys of Google Analytics – which in itself is a fantastic tool – but I’m learning to be cautious with how much I rely on it to give me satisfaction about the state of my blog. God, not Google, needs to get the glory!
“God, not Google, needs to get the glory!”
Love that! I’m always reminding myself that my blog is personal–and I write for my mom and my sister and my grandmas. And if other people enjoy reading it, that’s great. But if God gets glory and my mom feels in the loop with her grandkids, that’s what matters.
Hear, Hear – God not google needs to get the glory! Amen to that! Preach it sister!
Such a great post @ (in)courage! Thank you!
This reached me right where I am in my journey right now. I need to be filled with the authentic validation that the Lord alone brings. To know I am precious in His site needs to fill me.
Thank you!
Precious and loved and beautiful and full of the story that only God can write in you. Thanks for sharing pieces of it with us!
What a great post! And one that so many of us needed to hear!
XO
Thank you for the reminder that “I am who God says I am. . .” (from Beth Moore) I do feel small when my voice seems to go unnoticed. I have been struggling with that lately, and appreciate your willingness to speak to it!
You are not small. You are big in the Christ who lives in you and loves you and tells your story as part of His own. You are so so loved.
I will agree with Sara and say “at times”. Because it doesn’t reach a lot of people and I feel like I have an encouraging message to share and that is the joy that IS Jesus Christ. Granted, my blog talks about many other things, but I still try to put a big focus on God.
But usually, I remain pretty unaffected. Sure, I will subscribe to my own blog in my Google Reader just to see how many subscribers I have…and yes, I love to check my blogs stats. But I see it more as a matter of divine appointment. Who reads my blog is who God intended to read it.
Love the painting by the way…that is awesome! Did you do that?
“A divine appointment” – I LOVE that!! Beautiful and true.
Great post! Thank you! And, as others have asked, WHERE did you get that beautiful canvas?
SO glad you posted this! Thank you, thank you! I’ve reached a point in my blogging where I no longer care about blog stats. Well, mostly. Truthfully, sure I’ll check them from time to time. But not regularly. I want my blog to reflect my life, not be my life.
All I can say is…THANK YOU. I’ve been blogging for about a year and I enjoy it, or at least I did enjoy it. That was, until I heard the whispers. You see, I subscribe to Ann Voskamp’s blog, and I find it heart wrenchingly beautiful and perfect. She so inspires me everyday but the enemy took his chance and whispered, “You don’t write like her.” And I agreed…I don’t write like her. Maybe I never will write like her. So, the enemy made progress. Then, he whispered…”You only have eleven subscribers”. Oh yes, it’s true, I only have eleven subscribers. But that’s okay, right? I’m okay with small, small is beautiful, right? God doesn’t care about the size…then the enemy whispers, again, “The only reason you have eleven is because all your friends feel like they have to read. Nobody would read your blog if they didn’t have to. I bet it just sits in their email box, never read…” Ack! I heard his whispers and I listened. I blogged less and less. I felt so horrible every time I pressed “publish” and let my soul words get sent out to eleven people. Oh how I wanted to be liked. Oh how I still want to be liked. Oh how I longed for six hundred subscribers and fan mail in my inbox and praise words flowing into my still empty comment box…-sigh- This little thing inside me says, I need people to tell me how good it is or if it’s making a difference or if they’re even reading…but now I realize where the whispers are coming from. Thank you for helping me remember that I write for God alone. And even if He is the only one who ever reads my blog, well, I’ll let Him be enough.
Congratulations…This post will be featured on the High Calling Blogs, “around the network,” this afternoon. The roundup highlights some of the best blog posts for the month of July
David Rupert, Community Newsletter Editor
You know, I actually had not fully verbalized those thoughts, but now that you mention it, I guess I have felt those same feelings of inadequacy at one time or another – about blogging. How crazy is that?
Great post, both here, and at (in) courage