I know that we are over two weeks into the New Year, but I just wanted to take a second and hash out some things I have been thinking about in regards to this ‘ol blog.
As 2015 came to a close, I sat down and evaluated why I still have this blog and how much time I truly want to spend on it in 2016. And it all came down to this question:
Why do I blog?
Believe it or not, I actually get a quite a bit of flack for my blog. I get a lot of comments along the lines of, “You don’t need to put everything into public”, or “It’s dangerous to share so much online”, or “I cannot imagine how much time it takes away from your family”.
Those comments really hurt and always bring me down. I always wonder if I really should have a blog or if I should just delete it and become a much more private person. I’ve had people tell me that they don’t know what questions to ask me in a conversation because they already know everything about me from my blog. I’ve had people point out all the downsides to my blog and why they would never start an online journal about their family for the world to see. Like I said…that really hurts.
But after a few good conversations with Theo, I decided to keep this blog. And here is why.
1. It’s my hobby. My outlet. My creativity. It’s what I do when I’m feeling stressed. It’s what I do when I’m feeling happy. It’s what I do when I’m feeling sad. It’s what I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed. I write. And that makes me feel better. I do have a journal and I write in that almost every day. Then, I write on my blog. And I hit publish. Because I love to write.
2. It’s a platform to share my faith. I hope that anyone who stops by here knows within the first few minutes of looking around this blog that I am a Christian. I hope that they know that I write because I have been given the ability to write. This ability comes from God. I hope that through my words someone, somewhere is encouraged. Or challenged. Or inspired. I hope that all of this brings glory to God alone.
3. It’s an online scrapbook. I hope that one day Tera will look back on all the weekly pregnancy posts and all the monthly updates and have that beautiful picture of her growing up years that I’ve collected on this blog. I hope that our foster children can one day look at the blog and remember their times in our home. I hope that all our future children will be able to do the same. I know that I look back on past posts and realize how much I’ve grown or how far I still have to go, or how much weight I’ve gained or how great that haircut looked on me. I can look back on posts and be reminded of the emotions of that moment, and that is worth keeping around!
4. It’s a community. I’m a SAHM. It gets kind of lonely sometimes. I don’t hear a single adult speak a single word for entire days. It’s hard. And I have found that this blogging community really helps me along in those moments. I know one of my weaknesses is to take that too far and rely solely on the online community to help me out, uplift me, give me inspiration, etc. I’d really like to work on cutting back on that dependence, but when I step back and look at the big picture, I can see that the online community is a HUGE blessing to me. It allows me to connect with other human adults and interact with them, encourage them, be encouraged by them, collaborate with them and enjoy their creativity.
5. It helps me to keep in touch with my family. My family lives really far away. And while I do send them daily emails, I also like to update them on the smallest, little moments in our lives. You see, Tera will be two years old before my parents see her again. Updating them on all the big moments is necessary, but it’s also necessary that they have a big picture window into our lives. Life is truly made of small moments, the mundane, the day in and day out, the life latelies and the thoughts tumbling around in our heads. I’m thankful for this
6. It’s an income source. Last but not least, my blog is a source of income for our family. Through discount codes, membership and review offers and potential outside payment options, it’s an income source. And trust me, we need whatever income sources we can find! If it’s something I love, something that allows me to share my faith, something that builds me up, and an income source? Well, I’ll take it.
So what about you? Why do you blog?