Why a Blog?

One of the things I have learned as a Christian is that it is very wise to pray about every decision I have to make. When I thought the Lord was calling me to write, I wanted His confirmation. I prayed and read my Bible, asking the Lord to speak clearly. A theme kept coming up in the Scriptures I received. The New Living Translation of 1 Chronicles 16:24 says it best: "Publish His glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things He does."

While I was praying, my friend and I kept coming up with great story ideas that we eventually wrote out. These stories carried the underlining theme of God's great love for us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. We felt very strongly about these stories, especially since we felt that even kids needed the hope of the Lord in their lives. We sent out some of these to publishers, but we received many rejections letters.

In the meantime, I became convinced that God had called me to write. I began to write inspirational articles and stories that have since been published or are in the process of being published. I have also written stories for the secular market, one of which will be published in picture book form in the near future.

The last several months, though, I kept getting the same theme again in my Bible reading. I was to publish to all the nations the wonderful things God has done, but how? Didn't the stories and articles I wrote count? The stories my friend and I did still remain unpublished, so how was I supposed to accomplish this? I began to pray again. I could build a website, but that took money and technical know-how. I am pretty techno-savvy, but the process to learn was taking a bit too long. Then my friend, Nancy, started a writing blog and I had my answer.

A blog is easy. It can go directly to your e-mail account through a RSS feed, so when a new posting is listed you will have immediate access to it. It is free, which helps out in a tight budget, and I can build an audience so that when I do finally launch my website I will have people who will want to visit. So my number one resolution for 2008 was to start a blog. I can check that resolution off my list.

Will my postings only be about things of God? Not necessarily, but I cannot separate my faith from who I am. Jesus Christ is in my heart; therefore, my actions must reflect the light that is now in me whether directly or indirectly. I can just as easily reflect that light in a story that has good moral value even if I never mention God in it. This blog is not for Christians only. It is for anyone who wants encouragement and hope and inspiration. Of course, the only way I can truly share that is to show what God has done for me and others in my life.