Why Do You Blog? Be Surprised
—Grace & Truth Linkup
A Random Blog Comment?
I opened my email on Tuesday morning. News, ads, blah blah blah.
Then a comment from my blog. Blog comments are my favorite emails to read.
But this one made me pause. It started like this:
“Hi Lisa,
You don’t know me, but I wanted to tell you…”
I read it all the way through.
Then I took a deep breath. I needed to read this one twice.
Reasons to Blog
If you blog, why do you do it?
You must have good reasons because blogging can be costly…in time, in energy, in thought, and sometimes in money. Blogging asks questions of us: Are we sharing too much? Are we not personal enough? Is our effort even worth it?
We probably share many of the same concerns, and same reasons, for blogging.
Perhaps you blog:
- To encourage others
- To teach something you know
- To make friends with like-minded people
- To share your art
- To sell a product
- To connect with your family
- To entertain
- To point others to God
- To document your story
But when you blog, here’s a surprise you might not expect . . .
As you blog, you are the one encouraged. You are the one who learns something new. You are the one entertained.
We think we blog to give something to the world.
And hopefully we do.
But as we blog, we also gain things in return.
Maybe God teaches us something we couldn’t have learned without writing out the words. Maybe we make real friends in the blogging community. Maybe we learn about humility and pride on those posts with only a few readers.
And often we receive far more than we give.
Gifts in Both Directions
After re-reading the blog comment from Nick that Tuesday morning, I felt humbled. But not because Nick was hateful. (I occasionally receive those comments, but the vast majority of visitors are kind.)
Rather, what Nick came me that morning was hope. He reminded me that throwing something on my blog every few days can be more valuable than I realize. Not because I have something profound to say, but because God can do something profound with our meager offerings.
Nick said he and his fiancé had downloaded the 2-year Bible reading plan that he found on my blog a year and a half earlier. They were nearing completion now. They were on track to finish it shortly after they were married in the summer.
Nick said,
“Although this plan may have seemed like a small project for you, it is fascinating to watch God work through us and our skill set. For me, my fiancé and a few of my classmates at our university, this plan has been a gift.”
I didn’t know I had been blogging for Nick that day when I shared my post.
But I’m glad Nick did.
Whatever it is you expect to give by blogging, I hope you give it.
But I also hope you receive so much more in return.
Featured Post
Tracy began her blog years ago. But eventually grew discouraged and deleted it. She started again, but deleted that one, too.
She felt she lacked the proper knowledge to teach what she was learning about God.
But now she’s back. She’s decided she can encourage others in their faith walk—and be encouraged in return—which is something we’re all qualified to do, wherever we are in our journey.
Visit Tracy here at her blog and welcome her back into the blogging community, then link up your own blog posts below.
If you’re a blog writer, what difficulties do you have with writing a blog? What joys have you received? Share in the comments.
And if you’re a blog commenter, THANK YOU. You make us all happier.
Thanks for sharing, Tracy! Here’s a button for your blog.
I’m linking at these blog parties
1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.
2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.
3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).
We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.
MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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Hi Lisa, wow, what a welcome back!!! Thank you for featuring my blog post on yours. I am so excited. So many points in your post are exactly how I have felt, you blog not realizing the positive impact on someone else, you strive to encourage, but you yourself get encouraged too. I have so missed this community. Have a very blessed weekend and keep up the great encouragement!
God bless
Tracy
Lisa, Nick brought you such precious encouragement. And hope. Can you even imagine the stories you will hear one day of the impact your words have had on others! May we keep writing, staying hidden, and let God do the true and lasting work! Blessings!
Lisa, this is so timely, such a gift as I figure out what blogging looks like in this season of grief. I thought I would shelve it because I don’t have the energy or focus to run all over the place visiting others’ websites. But I came back because this is a priceless community in my life and has been since 2008. I needed my friends’ encouragement and grace even if I couldn’t necessarily make it back to their place to comment.
I’m finding it such a blessing to have a place where I can unpack and share in ways that honor my mom. And get that support I didn’t know I was craving.
I know that I’ll be back, ready to roll again at some point. But til then I’m grateful for the gift of online affection.
xo
Dear Lisa! So good to see you blogging away faithfully! I think we long for the simpler days, no matter what sort of days they are, right? There is always that sense of remember when I started and how do we keep that sort of spiritual fortitude and momentum to what God has called us? I have had a few people reach out and affirm for me the benefit they felt when I shared something on various platforms…it is so amazing how God can work beyond our comprehension to touch others around the world…and also edify and encourage our gifts in one another as we share them, and when we both have recieved and freely given His grace gifts in us…seeking His will for my writing currently…and simplifying my path or narrowing as I am out in a lot of directions ( as usual!). Sending love, in His Grace- Enthusiastically, DAwn
It’s wonderful encouragement to hear from a reader that God has used you in his or her life.
This was so helpful for those days when, I ask myself why I do this thing called blogging. To be honest, sometimes I just don’t want to do it anymore and I have hovered over the “delete blog” button for a L-O-N-G moment. Nevertheless, there was a whisper in my ear that said, “We’re not finished yet” and so I persevere with posting daily on My Life in Our Father’s World.
Father, I’m in for the long haul. I will keep writing until you tell me it is time to do something else! AMEN
Love this post Lisa! I blog to encourage all those who visit my little corner of blog space always ready with a cuppa.
And I love sitting with everyone who joins me there, for I receive encouragement from them too, which was an added bonus that I didn’t realise was coming when I first started blogging.
Bless you,
Jennifer
This is so lovely to read Lisa! I have received more from blogging than I could ever have imagined when I began, purely on a whim nine years ago. Now I can’t imagine life without it, nor without all the people I’ve connected to through it — including you! Glad we can all keep encouraging other on this little adventure called life.
Thanks for all the ways you stand along the road cheering us on as we run! So glad Nick did that for YOU!
Lisa, I’m so glad Nick took the time to write to you about the impact that blog post had on him and his fiancé. We just never know, do we, how our words might touch someone else in a meaningful way? There are times when I look at the reach of my blog and wonder why I’m even still doing this. Then I think about all the wonderful people I’ve met this way (including you) and how they have touched my life with their words—in blog posts as well as comments—and I’m so grateful.
I’m not surprised at what Nick said, Lisa. Your writing and your commitment to post regularly and diligently make a difference to a lot of us.
This post made me think about being more regular in my blogging too.
Thank you for all you do!
What a wonderful gift, indeed. I am so glad to hear about Nick and how your blog has helped him and his fiancé. That is amazing! Blogging is time consuming and it can be discouraging especially what it’s like to blog these days. But telling our stories and sharing things that are important because it can be helping someone else.
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
This is a timely post for me, Lisa. What wonderful encouragement to us that our simple words can make a big impact for someone else. I have a bit of a mantra on that subject…it’s written on my bulletin board in front of my desk and says “You don’t have to be profound. You just have to write.” Somehow this one comes round and round for me.
Those kind of comments make it all worth it.
What an encouraging blog, Lisa. I am happy with what you received and it encourages me to continue blogging as a Christian woman in the Netherlands. you give me a surprising look at what i do. I’d never seen it like that.
And I’m also glad Tracy is back!
What a profound question. I often feel as if I blog (and write) for an audience of One (or maybe two, if you include my mom). I needed the creative outlet; I used to think I wanted to write a non-fiction book (and thus needed a platform). Ten years later, I’m at the point where I’m not sure why I blog. I’ll be spending some time this summer reviewing my why.
It is brilliant when that happens (happens to me very occasionally on my work blog — but obviously with much less import). Blogging must be unique for offering that sudden strong connection between writer and reader.
I blog (in this persona) mainly to work through things I can’t work through anywhere else. If I were bolder I might pray about some of those things. I think writing for an imagined public encourages me to strive for things like purpose, clarity and honesty. It does mean the blog ends up rather downbeat, …
I am much happier reading 🙂 I love hearing a person’s own voice and personality in their writing.
Aw, what a wonderful email to receive!