What Blogging for 9 Years has Taught Me.

This week marks nine years blogging. It’s crazy to think of all the change that has taken place in our world and in our family in the past nine years. As I think back over those nine years I think of the things that I only could have learned by blogging.

1. Starting is always the scariest part of most everything – It was scary to start blogging. It was scary to make myself vulnerable enough to write what I was thinking, learning and failing at. It still is scary. [Tweet “There are few things more intimidating in life than a blank page and blinking cursor.”]There are few things more intimidating in life than a blank page and blinking cursor. How do you beat this fear? Start typing.
2. Consistency was my biggest challenge. When starting a blog or most things in life you have to be consistent. Pushing through bloggers block was tough till I created a system for ideas and then learned how to make old ideas new. Most bloggers don’t survive because of a lack of consistency, not because of lack of good ideas or content. There are many of you out there reading this that need to start blogging. You should. How consistent should you be? I think to start out you need to do three times a week for a couple of years till ideas and execution become reflexive.
   
3. Writing down your thoughts regularly is the most important and most humbling thing you can do. If blogging isn’t for you then I would encourage you to keep a journal. Looking back over nine years of writing I see how my ideas have formed and changed over time. I see how God has answered prayers and provided in ways I hadn’t expected. I look back at my early posts and see how much I have learned in nine years and find it rather humbling to think how little I currently know now looking back on today nine years from now.
4. I am grateful for my wife who helped me not blog things I would regret nine years later. My wife is amazing. She is the single greatest source of joy and encouragement in my life and I don’t tell her that enough. You need someone to run your ideas by to make sure they are helpful and not simply bombastic.
5. Metrics matter but if you blog to your metrics you will hurt people. How many people come to your blog can be something that can very well drive your content and pump your ego. It’s very easy to slip into the mud on the internet to “go viral.” The problem is you get tons of traffic at the expense of real people and Christ’s church.
6. Blogging about what you are passionate about will connect you with people who share your passion. I never saw this coming. I started my blog to be to other family pastors what I wish I had when I started. In the end, I actually received way more than I gave. I found a community of people who are passionate about kids ministry who are more talented and smarter than I am and I am better because of their influence and our kids and youth ministry are better because of them.

I want to thank all of you who stop by on a regular basis it is truly humbling. I look forward to the next nine years of growing together and building the church.

As a way of me saying thank you I am doing a giveaway. I will be giving away a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum which retails for $130.00 and Yancy’s Kidmin Worship Project Volume 1 – Hymns worth $60.00. Follow the directions provided from the plugin tool below.