Purpose

A lot going through the ol' noggin today, so a second post...

Last year around this time, I sat down and put into words, my purposes for blogging. -Just for myself.

I knew I had my reasons, but I wanted to see them laid out in front of me.

I've come to realize recently that I need to shift part of my focus where blogging is concerned. I guess maybe I was a little naive, but I had hopes of forming real lasting connections through blogging.

While blogging on my first (private) blog, which was open to adoptive parents within our adoption agency at the time when we were adopting Buzz, I found the relationships formed didn't truly last as I had hoped.

When I moved here, to this blog, I hoped again to find that, and to broaden the reach of my blog - to reach out to other women in my own little way.

As I've been blogging I've tried to reach out in love and encouragement. I've met several people and grown to truly care about them and their lives. However, I find again that connections don't seem to last, and that what I'm doing here doesn't seem to matter that much. It bums me out.

So I'm beginning to try to look at blogging in a bit of a new way.

While I initially hoped for connection, I'm now trying to focus more on some of my other purposes in blogging. Since this is something I love doing. I know the answer is not quitting, but something needs to change.

When, last year, I wrote out my purposes for this blog, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking over them, I just quickly jotted down my basic reasons. But for my own sake, I now need to elaborate on them and give words to the things that are in my heart where blogging is concerned.

So, I am making a revised list of purpose for my blog.

Purposes:
1. To share the truth about God/Jesus, and about what he has and is doing in my life - God is real, and he has relationships with real people. I have problems. I don't measure up to a lot of standards that are set by people within the church or outside of the church. I'm just me, and God accepts me, and I love him for that. He gently teaches me, and I'm amazed at him! And although those manmade rules tried to weigh me down, God continues lifting my burdens with his truth. My new title & subtitle, express a lot about what I want to do here. As I've said before, the love knot is a symbol to me of not only our family, and how God has brought us together, but also how he is so very present in my life - in every moment. This blog is my notebook, and I want it to reflect the grace of God in a life. I want others to see his kindness and truth. I want (dream/long/hope/pray) to be a woman of grace, and I want this to be a place of grace.

2. To share about our family life - Sharing about my family is fun. I love our family.

3. To share my thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and present an accurate view of myself - When I use this blog to write down my thoughts, feelings and experiences, it helps me to process things that would otherwise stay locked up as emotions. Putting words to them lets them be dealt with and gives me a voice when I need one. I also like that someone who may be going through something I have gone through, could read a post and feel like they are not alone. I mostly write the way I would talk. I'm not a writer (although that would be really neat), and I'm not trying to be one here.

4. Encourage with scripture - I want to share scripture from the Bible. I love the Bible. Its meant so much to me. Its taught me pretty much everything that's important, and over and over again, it comforts me and points me to the Truth.

5. To share beauty - Something I didn't realize about myself until North pointed it out, is, I am always looking for and finding beauty around me. I'm so glad he shared that with me! I know this will sound a bit Eeyore-ish, but I struggle to find good things about myself, but this is something that I can see in me and feel good about. So, I want to share the beauty I see here. Whether it's in nature (which it is a lot), or in some pretty handmade things, or in people, the Bible, in the Lord, a song, my family, clothing, or whatever.

6. And lastly, connection - This was such a big reason for starting to blog - the big reason. But I'm trying to move my heart into caring less about connection for myself, and more about just blogging because I enjoy it, and to be there to encourage others. I firmly believe in commenting on other blogs. I like to "comment unto others, as I would have them comment unto me." There are times when (for reasons I don't need to explain), I feel that I need to move away from commenting on a blog for a while, but I always hope it will only be for a time. And there are other times when for some reason I can't think of anything to say... Most bloggers want to receive feedback, and I like to encourage them with it. I like finding small unknown blogs, or blogs that are just starting out, and encouraging them by reading along. It's great not being a "one thing" person (like someone who's all about one thing - like all about mom stuff, all about infertility, all about homeschooling, all about cooking, fashion, coupons, adoption, etc. etc...), because I enjoy reading about all kinds of people and all kinds of things. (That's also why my blog doesn't just stick to one topic - Praise the Lord! I couldn't handle that.)

My hope is that by focusing less on wanting a connection myself, I'll be able to keep my heart from feeling heavy and do what I enjoy doing without expecting anything to come from it.


So that's where I am.

Other than that, my only hope where blogging is concerned, is that someday me and my family will be world travelers and I will have a gorgeous travel blog. ;)