my mentor got lost in my blogworld.
i was inspired by my mentor’s take on blogging.
she’s a GREAT woman of the Word, and she’s spent 5+ intense years walking with/beside me. i wouldn’t, in many ways, be where i am today without her. so, she sent me an email yesterday tellin’ me she’d been lurkin’ on my blog and got lost in all of it (the blogworld, that is).
she also sent me some first-timer observations that i thought y’all would find interesting:
To do a blog about yourself, you really need to know yourself!! What an awesome way to get to know yourself /figure out yourself/ and then to let the world know and enter in to you!!! Not that life is all about us, but there is that healthy balance of learning about ourselves and then therefore loving ourselves, the way God created us! Unique! Beautiful! Full of quirks and likes and dislikes, etc….you young folk do that so much better then us old folk. Thanks for leading the way for us. Being so open with your humanity and so sure of God’s grace and position in Him. It really is all about God, isn’t it?? He made us and He covers us! We don’t need to be ashamed!!! He’s got our backs!!!
so, tam’s question about spending time on the computer got me to thinkin’ about why in the world i even do this blog stuff… and my mentor is right, this has really become one way to get to know myself better. one of my other mentors always said “a life not evaluated is a life not worth living”… i think she’s right. its like holding up a mirror of myself – studying the blemishes and beauty… getting into blogging in July definitely opened up a view of myself that i wouldn’t have seen otherwise!
but what about you? why do you blog? what do you “get out of it”? i’m REALLY REALLY curious to hear some of your answers….
Geez… I ask myself this question several times a week. And I find myself going in two directions. At times I blog for other people. I want them to like me or to be popular (dumb, I know). I think about what the reader would like to hear. And other times I blog for me. I write what I feel and not worry about the reader. I enjoy blogging more when I write for “me” verses “them”. At this point I’m trying to blog about things that add value to my life. If it’s going to help me, leave a message about myself to my children, or connect with family, then it’s worth my time. I’ve been trying to limit my time on the computer and be more disciplined about other parts of my life. Only then can I blog without guilt! Speaking of time, I’m almost out of it. Intersting post!
Hey!
Ya, the post was a good one yesterday, and this response helps. I started thinking “why do I really do this”. My wife isn’t a blogger … some of the guys @ the church office aren’t. So, I had a lunch conversation with our Admin Pastor a few weeks ago and had to answer that question, ’cause he just doesn’t get it. I’d almost rather write/read blogs than watch TV .. as a matter of fact, other than about 3 shows, I’d ABSOLUTELY rather do it.
I’ve got a few reasons behind my blogging:
1 – to hopefully mentor, encourage, and edify others in regards to spiritual and personal matters with my own experience, failures, and occassional successes.
2 – to network and build community, relationships – both on a personal/spiritual level, and self-admittedly, on a strategic/business role as well.
3 – to unwind, dump, empty. It’s a great way for me to just get some of these rambling thoughts OUT of my mind.
4 – on a personal level, to let more closely related friends and family understand what’s going on in my life – both the silly and the significant.
For the Kingdom,
Fred
I blog because of three things: to encourage, bless and spur others on in their walk with the Lord, to share what God is doing in our lives and because I feel that I must…I am compelled.
I do not look for kudos or commments, although they are great to read. I simply put it out there and pray it blesses someone that day.
And in regards to your comment, Mandy…I know, my embarrassing moment is like one of those that everyone knows better than to say…and here it flies from my mouth
Ug! She still talks to me though and I have abased myself properly.
oh man….fred took my answers…grrr
I dont know why I blog, really. Its something I just got into and its sort of addicting.
Mostly I think its a waste of time and I feel like someone has invented a a more sophisticated way of talking to oneself. Sometimes you come across some interesting stuff you werent aware of , and you just sort of keep going.
I blog because I want to see how many people I can get to look at my way cool page. Ha, ha, ha…
I think that this idea of getting to know yourself is great. It’s safe, sort of – and for people like me, it’s a great way to get yourself out there – the caution is this though: you can be whoever you want to be online (and not really be yourself at all).
Here’s why I blog:
1. It’s fun.
2. I’m a dork/geek/nerd/techie.
3. I’m an introvert, so I must have some sort of outlet to be social. Blogging is an introvert’s paradise.
4. To make money – I have a business blog also.
5. To have conversations about the complexities and mysteries of the Christian faith.
6. To get to know people I would otherwise never meet like Mandy Thompson, Anne Jackson, Craig Groeschel, Dan Kimball, alright – enough name dropping.
7. A place to direct family and friends to, to stay in touch. I hate email and phone calls.
8. Last but not least, to “let the air out” and “breathe a little”!
I am not sure if I really do it enough to even say I blog. I think I do it to check my thinking. It is a way to see if I am crazy by throwing out a thought and watching for the fall out. Not that anything I say is really much of a bomb or even that anyone is listen. I think it gives me a way to sort of say something publically but privately.
Anyway I am just starting to travel in blog land and had no clue it was such a large land. I enjoyed my vist to your town.
Hmm…good question. I’ve met some interesting folks in this thing called bloggerdom. I’ve been encouraged and I would like to encourage others. Sometimes it just helps me sort things out…but on the whole I could probably do without blogging to be honest.
B/c it makes my face smile to see other women out there like myself!
It’s comic relief.
And it’s an expression for this one who tends to be so contemplative about her Jesus to actually do something with it.
love
At first I started because inWorship had one. He’d come home from church each day, break out his computer and go at it. He’d walk around with his lap top, following me to show me something he found on a blog or read an interesting post. Then he started making new friends! And I thought HEY! Hold up here! I’m the cool social one here – that is my job buddy!!! So inProgress was born!
But now….I don’t blog out of spite (tee-hee!) I have learned much about myself, my writing abilities (or lack thereof) I have met the coolest people EVER!! But most importantly, it has become quite the ministering tool! That part I didn’t expect or plan on at all. I had no direction in the beginning – and now I “sort of” do…it is still a journey.
I am “slightly” addicted now too
I love the connection I feel with other believers. I love the encouragement I receive from their input and reading THEIR blogs.
The reason I write myself? Probably because I get a better grasp of the things swirling around in my head if I put them to “paper”. There’s something about having to express myself in writing that helps me really get to the bottom of what I’m genuinely feeling… and through the process, God often brings Scripture to mind that exactly addresses the issue I’m blogging about… and I love that.
Well, I tend to agree with Shelly. I have a lot of time to contemplate the things of God and what He is doing in me. I blog in order to hopefully edify others.
This is a good question. I was talking to my pastor about this the other day.
I am learning things about my personality that I never knew before. The fact that I like to encourage people. I like to listen to their hearts and then give them something of GOd to cling to. My pastor asked me why I could do this so much easier in blogland than in person. I think that I have figured out that because of the way I was raised I guess I thought that no one would really be interesedt in accepting what I told them. God is using this to stretch my personality in order
to show me what He has planted in me over the years. It is time to open my mouth and let Him out.
I like to read blogs more than I write.
Its really sad to see how pathetic and twisted America has become. Athiest blogs show me how fervently evangelical these people are at spreading thier beliefs while screaming at us to stop shoving religion down thier throats.
Rap stars scream expletives at thier legions of adoring fans and play with thier minds, while another part of America demands that millions of toys with a tiny bit of lead paint be immediately recalled due to thier “hazardous nature” with regards to Junior’s future “brain” function.
I may not be the best Christian around, actually I havent attended Church in years, but the pathetic nature of America, with its lack of any kind of restraint is just appalling.The sick sex blogs, the unabashed people , the sneering antichrists, it just kind of makes you wonder how God will judge America.
I had to tell a Jewish atheist the other day, who was ridiculing Christians and Creationism, that actually it was his former faiths idea in the first place. (No reply from him yet).
And I am being sued by a sodomite and the Human Rights Commision here in Canada for comments I made on the internet about gay marriage years ago . Sigh ….life goes on
Hi Mandy,
The reason I blog is my need to share something about myself. For a long time I thought about writing a book, but I never really had the time. Blogging is a great way for me to share my thoughts on leading worship. I look forward to your guest blogging article. I hope your family is doing well.
I started keeping a blog once Todd and I moved to MA so family and friends could read what we were up to. Then came the pregnancy, and now with baby Ava it’s great to keep a blog of her milestones. I have a small readership so the blog is mostly for myself. I think it will be great to look back when Ava’s older and read what she did when.
Jay Hanson? Dude, my spiritual cup of coffee is so cold, I had to pour it out. Hope you get back into it!
FM
Blogging has become one way for us to keep a sense of community alive and kicking during our very busy schedules. I know that there are at least a dozen people that I could call on during the day (thru blogs) that are tuned in to my life. I pray faithfully for the authors of the blogs that I visit most faithfully! God has used these blogs to both bless and challege me spiritually.
Two reasons –
1. Self-discipline – it’s a way to organize my thoughts and reactions in a ministry role that doesn’t always encourage reflection.
2. Connections – I like making friends with people and blogging is helping achieve that.
I cannot believe I haven’t commented yet!
I started to blog back in 2006, because it was recommended by my counselor, just to help me get my words out, never thinking it was being read by 20-30 people a day!
I never thought it would help in the transition of who got called me to be, but it did.
I also thought it wasn’t possible to form friendships with people so close, and never have even met them!
Even Beth Moore and Amanda, its crazy, because through words, we have even got to know some bible teacher.
Someone said to me once that ” words are all we have” ; and it really is the truth.
I love my blogs, I love being able to open myself, and know that it is OK.
I love my siestas, I feel like y’all are the dearest people in my life, and I only know you by pics:)
You know who you are, but know you have helped God change my life, and I love you!
Ang
It is all about the relationships/friendships for me! I love the girlfriends I have met over this stupid computer. Blogging has also now become a medium to communicate with family and friends back home. Instead of sending a million separate e-mails or a blanket/forwarded one…if people are interested in what we are doing out here, they can come and see. It also lets me document and journal our experience out on the mission field. One of our “jobs” out here is to hook up kids with sponsors from the USA and on my blog, I just post pictures of the kids we do that for…I just started that to give people an idea of why we are here, and already we have hooked up some of those kids with some food! Yay. But the most important part of my blog (to me anyways) is on the right hand side I have a prayer list where people have e-mailed me or just people I hear about that need some prayer back up…and so it gives us a place, a network…to pray for one another. It’s all about the relationships.
hmmm what great responses. We are all connected and this just helps us see deeply how we are connected and where our thoughts align, and where we find room to learn and grow and change. I guess that’s why I blog – to share and grow and learn. It’s crucial for me now. I miss it when I don’t (and when I think of the word blog, it means reading and writing). There’s something therapeutic about writing out thoughts too – it makes you really THINK through what your thinking and come to conclusions. Thanks Mandy!
I blog cuz it gives me a place to vent about the frustrations that I almost daily encounter, raising and homeschooling 2 VERY different boys growing up in a VERY difficult and DIFFERENT world — they are 13 years apart so even their experiences are EXTREMEMLY different.
It’s also healthy for me to just have a few minutes to myself and do “my own thing” att he end of the day.
My primarily blog to teach, train, challenge, and encourage other worshipers, particularly certain youth on our youth teams…and also, to be honest, to have an influenced – albeit small – on the larger worshiping community worldwide, hopefully encouraging good theology, giving practical tips, and receiving those same things for myself.
man – i sure butchered the english language with that first sentence, huh?