It was
with eagerness and anticipation that the TLC blog debuted last Spring, an idea
I believe came from the Lord. And now I know part of the reason why.
Through trial and error, I fumbled through
the layout and the workings of designing a blog (some of which still elude me,
however!). A few comments were posted or verbalized. Along the way,
I discovered there was a way to monitor the number of people who visited the
site. About the same time I read an interview with Ann Voskamp (author of
One Thousand Gifts, who also has a blog). When asked about
the number of people who read her blog, she responded that she really didn’t
follow the numbers. The Lord seemed to put the thought in my mind that
that was a good idea. But after awhile, I found myself checking again,
rationalizing that it would help me know if the blog was ministering to the
ladies, when in reality, it was feeding my pride. The realization hit me
when a friend posted a link on Facebook to an article on Christian
blogging. The author was none other than Ann. She outlined
principles for guiding a blogger. The first one listed jumped off the
page at me – don’t pay attention to the statistics. She likened it
to David taking a census of the people which made him feel good about the size of
his army instead of keeping his eyes on the Lord. The number became a
source of pride. The conviction fell heavy on my heart followed by
confession and repentance. The other principle that etched itself in my
mind is – write for an audience of One. Write for Him
alone with no thought for who else might read it. He is the only
“follower” that matters.
So where does this leave me? Again with
eagerness and anticipation - but this time for writing for Him alone. I’ll
let you know when there is something new and if any of you want to read it, you
are welcome to. If you don’t, that is fine, too. By the way, you
can ask me if I am checking the stats. J
"A Blogger's Prayer" by Ann Voskamp
May I write not for subscribers...but only for Thy smile.
May my daily affirmation be inn the surety of my atonement, not the size of my audience.
May my identy be in ght innumerable graces of Christ, never, God forbid, the numbers of my comments.
May the only words that matter in my life not be the ones I write on a screen - but he ones I love with my skin.
This is my prayer,
Jan
May I write not for subscribers...but only for Thy smile.
Jan,
ReplyDeleteHow beautifully transparent you are...thanks for sharing. And in the "opposite way" it has helped me, because in my "fatigue" I have only had "moanings and utterances" that the Holy Spirit could convey to my Lord or I have spoken to Him Alone and have not had the energy (or thought!) to write on the blog. God is so very gracious to work uniquely with each of us. Thank you dear sister for all that you share and give.