Blest with sons

Well, it is the final day of blogging about blogging. (hold your applause) I have had a great time this week exhausting this subject and reading what everyone else had to say. If you haven’t gone over to She Lives and read her posts and others’ then you’re missing out!

I’m finishing out the week thinking of all the good things that come from blogging.

Blogging has brought me discipline as a writer. They say that the only way to be a writer is to write. (well Duh) I am a famously undisciplined person. Having the self-imposed pressure of posting regularly has driven me to write…and write…and write. Although I haven’t yet tried to get published, I hope I’m heading that direction. I’m using the talent I believe God has given me. That is satisfying - even without a paycheck.

Blogging has taught me lessons in humility and impulse control. I have made some whopping mistakes in my blog adventures. I have typographically lashed out more than once (usually because I was commenting too soon after waking up) and then had to go back and apologize. Unfortunately, I think I brought a permanent coolness to one of my blog friendships through that kind of behavior. One early episode hammered it home that the web truly is world wide and you never know who is going to read your off-the-cuff remarks. I made quite a few people really mad because I was not more judicious in voicing my somewhat controversial opinion. I am really thin-skinned and don’t have the stomach for big controversies. I know my limitations now and try to stay out of the fray.

Blogging has given me a way to connect, minister, and use my gifts without leaving my house. Real live service with real live people is wonderful. Serving at church is fantastic. I want to do these things and I plan to do these things. But the simple fact is I have four small children who can’t seem to stay un-snuffly for more than a week or two at a time! I can’t be a Sunday School teacher right now. I’m just too unreliable. I do sing with the worship team, but I never know if I’ll be able to make rehearsals. Blogging is something I can do. And I do think it is - or can be - a form of ministry.

Blogging has helped me grow spiritually. Through the study for writing my posts, through the prayer for other bloggers, even through my big mistakes, God has been teaching me. For many of us, attempting to write a blog where we glorify God has led to growth because it has increased our study time and made us more conscious of the responsibility of going “public” with our writing as Christians. And debates in comment threads, when we do jump into them, can help us to shape our beliefs and practice our skills for polite disagreement.

Blogging has brought me real friends.

Blogging has given me the chance to encourage others.

Blogging even helps me make a little money now and then! (more jewelry sales coming soon!)

Reading the work of other bloggers has taught me about mommying, being a wife, theology, crafting, and much much more. Plus I have had the privilege of seeing God at work all over the place as bloggers share what He has done in their lives.

What can I say. I love to blog. I’m grateful to God for the chance to do it. I’m grateful to you for reading. I’m grateful to you for blogging, too!

Oh! While I’m being grateful, big thanks to Carol for having this great idea. And I’m beyond grateful, not to mention humbled by her kind words about my posts as she presented me with this little award…

And lest you’re worried I’ll get puffed up by her words and the award, my brother kindly sent me this today:

Balance. It’s a good thing.

Happy Blogging, Everybody!