Several times a week, I log into the dashboard of my blog and think I have something to write.
- I could write about true freedom, and how that means willingly accepting my identity as a slave to Christ, which doesn’t bring oppression, but true joy.
- I could write about how I think the voice of the peacemakers is being shut down because the voice of the cynics is so loud…and the peacemakers know there’s really no point in fighting a virtual battle of words.
- I could write about all the new stuff I’m learning about anxiety disorders, OCD, trauma and grief or about the theology of subordinate & ultimate purposes in moral ethics.
But I don’t.
It’s not that I can’t; as if I have some writer’s block and I keep pressing delete and thinking my writing isn’t good enough.
It’s not because I’m scared of what people will think about what I write.
It’s not even that I don’t want to.
Or that I don’t have time.
None of those things are true.
Lately, I’m full of words and inspiration, most of which are being poured into the channels of a launching “Lean on Me” which comes out this October. Or into my other-new book that will come out next year. It flows into my husband as he goes through some exciting ministry changes, and into some friends over coffee or a glass of wine. I give these words to the trees and the sky when I go on walks with my dog, or sometimes they only rattle around in my head until they break into little digestible pieces I can stomach. These words fuel me as I straighten up our kitchen or hang up the laundry (who am I kidding? Tim so graciously does the laundry. I hate doing laundry.)
A few years ago I would have wondered if you missed me.
Maybe I still do a tiny bit, but most days this blog is so far from any of my normative thinking. Only when I see the bookmark to my dashboard to log in, I log in. And that’s really just to delete any spam comments.
I want to talk to you. I remember how, almost ten years ago, a small group of fifty or a hundred people would come here and listen about me putting up Christmas lights or running from tornadoes or wrestling through tithing as an automatic deduction from my church-staff paycheck. Then that number grew into the tens of thousands and the conversation changed and I began to love those numbers much more than I should have. And then, life changes pounced and left me wounded and I took everything off of the Internet for a couple of years and that huge audience I was so enamored with dwindled back down to a handful of people.
But that’s okay.
It’s taken a year or so of being truly back “online” for me to accept the new Web 2.0. Or is it 3.0 now? It’s not even about the Internet, is it? Whatever it is – whatever this is – I’m okay with it.
I’m not saying goodbye to blogging, and I’m certainly not bidding adieu to writing. I’m embracing how different it is now, both externally in how social networking has changed in the last decade and internally, how I’ve changed in the last decade.
I’m giving myself permission to keep things close, as Mary did, pondering them in her heart.
My heart used to be online, but now it’s found in quiet moments with trusted friends, in solitude, and in quietness and trust.
That is where I find rest.
That is where I find Him.
Comments
6 responses to “Blogging Isn’t What it Used to Be…And that’s Okay.”
Anne ~ You are missed.
But yet, you are wise.
And certainly sound like you’re at peace.
And when all is said and done, that’s what He came to give.
I understand what you are saying. There are times and seasons for everything. We must grow and change with those times and seasons. :)
You are so right Anne on many fronts. The changing of blogging. The desire for readers which overtakes the sheer pleasure of writing and meeting people via the net. The rest which comes from expressing thoughts and receiving responses. Blogging has changed. I’m glad. I don’t want to go back to what once was.
That’s the perfect place to find rest….in Jesus and in close friends.
Sounds like wise words to me. I wonder how virtually the next generation will interact with their virtual relationships.
Anne, I’m glad I and my family were among those who stuck with you. And I see that at least MOST, maybe all, of the commenters above were too. (Good for you, guys and gals). I liked your blog from the very first time I read it, Anne, about when you were on the Compassion tour of Africa with David Kuo. Still do. And my family still includes you in our prayers every night. Blessingss!