why do I blog…

and what makes you want to read it?

For as long as I can remember I’ve always loved journaling. I may not have ever filled a journal completely but there are probably dozens of books with my scribbling in existence. I was even the editor of my high school yearbook so that I could have an opportunity to make my yearbook the record that I really wanted it to be. Once I had children I jumped into scrapbooking. Then I had more children and there was just no time to scrapbook. I still had so many things I wanted to remember though, so I dove into the world of blogging. My first posts were back in 2006! Living in different states than all of our extended family members made blogging an opportunity to share our daily lives with those we love that we’re far away from. I’m pretty sure only family members read my posts for the longest time. My blog is linked to most of the places I participate in online so I’ve gotten a few reads here and there throughout the years, from crafting sites, homeschooling sites, Hyena Cart, online mom communities and so on.

When Miranda was born my blog was silent, I didn’t know how to share about her just yet, wasn’t sure I wanted to go “public” with her so I went back to a paper journal and started recording her life story.

When she died I knew I wanted to blog. I had so much to write and my pen just wasn’t moving fast enough.

All of a sudden people were reading and responding to what I was saying in numbers I never expected.

So here I am navigating this blogging thing with a mind for what lies ahead. Do I really have something to add to the world of blogging? Is my story different enough to receive interest but also just as much relatable? Can I be consistent in posting? Do I have to be focused on one thing? Will I have to chose to be a craft blog? A homeschooling blog? A baby-loss blog? Can I be a little of all of that? Or, should I continue on just journaling our life?

Why am I even asking these questions?

When I started blogging Miranda’s story I had an audience and people started subscribing. I read a (few) post(s) by Amy at Raising Arrows about the 2:1 Conference for blogging homeschool moms, she challenged her readers to consider whether God was calling them to take their blogs further and to consider if attending the convention was in His plans. I’ve been thinking about it often and am praying for Him to open the door if that is what He wills. Amy offered an opportunity to win a ticket to the conference by blogging about why you wanted to go. I missed the deadline. Today I saw that Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers was also opening up that opportunity! I couldn’t miss a deadline again.

I’m continuing to pray that I use this blog for purposes that bring glory to my Savior. I may not speak His name in every post, but I hope my life proves that Jesus is the center without me needing to use words.