How to Blog (the right way)

Spoiler alert! -- there is no right way.

And I'll let you in on a small secret: (I have no idea what I'm doing.) 

It's really hard for me, because I've have all of these plans, all of these ideas in my head of how things should go, what I want to make happen, and when I want it done.

I've written before about how God gave me this inspiration, and I've also written about letting Him lead. Every time I sit down and open up Blogger, I make myself surrender it.

Because I want everything I say to be led by Him. I want everything I write to be approved by Him. I don't want to post anything that is solely my own... because it's junk.

Goodness! I have so many topics I've wanted to cover. Even the fact that this is a Relationship blog bugs me, because more than anything else so far, I haven't been writing much at all about relationships, but about self and the personal commitment of following after God. Because that's what's been put on my heart. It's taking a lot of trust and a lot of patience for me to do this and not forge ahead with my own ideas. But I know it's going to be worth it... because it already has been!

What I've seen happening through my blog reminds me of that Emily Dickinson poem, If I can stop one heart from breaking... though at a slightly less drastic level. Every single time I get feedback from anyone in a comment, or see activity on one of my posts through sharing on social media, I'm flooded with gratitude. Thank You, God!  Because if what He allows me to write can help even one person, none of this is in vain.

It just makes me SO GLAD to see people being able to relate, gleaning encouragement, or giving me a kind word of reassurance, too. You're all proof to me that I'm supposed to be doing this, and I can't say thank you enough.

In regards to blogging and the various technicalities, I'm learning how to improve and personalize everything, little by little. There is a lot to learn!

(Notice the new blog look? :D Let me know what you think, honestly.)

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So...

How to blog-- the right way?

Well, for me, that means giving it to God. Then blindly letting things unfold. *gulp*

At any rate, I'm going to write to you all about 4 key points of my blogging life. Everyone has their own unique quirks and strategies.

As I said, there really is no right or wrong way, there is simply what has been proven effective to draw audiences across cyberspace, for those who make a living through their website. As for me, my path has proven to be most unconventional. But it shows promise, and I'll see where it goes.  :)

Where...?

Anywhere and everywhere. I'm a weird person: my most whirlwind inspiration moments come to me while milking the cows. I'll blog in my bedroom, at the kitchen table, in the barn, in the college library, or up in the woods. Internet connection or no internet connection. (I'll tell you how I do that, below.) Really, it's anywhere that I'm inspired or an idea hits me.

When...?

Most people will say set goals and be consistent, and yeah, I really wanted to be able to do that. In the beginning. But I've come to know I need to wait for the leading. If the trend so far is any sort of indicator, I post once a week (or 3/4 times a month). But that's subject to change, either by increase or by decrease. Usually I'll have a post in the works for quite a while. I write a little, leave it. Come back and edit, write more, leave it again. Sometimes I get on a role and finish it up. Then it gets published. I'm working on my blog behind the scenes most every day, it's just that things take time. And that's more than okay!

How...?

Either I'm using my father's laptop (because I'm in the process of replacing my Dell that's giving up on life), or I'm "blogging" in a notebook. Yep, I've got a leather journal dedicated to Project Patience. I can write my rough drafts, brainstorms and notes, or even just pour out some journal entries, and sometimes those evolve into posts, or spur the topics for them. While spending time in the Word, themes will stick out at me, and even some schoolwork assignments have been the inspiration for posts. As a general rule, live life, and life will present you with tons of writing material. :P

Why...?

Because you've got an awful lot to offer.
I blog because I'm being led to. Because I have a story to tell, and to each chapter there is an appointed time in which to tell it. The same goes for you. You have a story to tell, so why not blog?
Above all, remember: the point of telling your story is to Glorify God. To show how He's fulfilling His promises, to rejoice in all the amazing and often unexpected ways He reveals His plan. He is doing great things, every moment. In all of our individual lives, at our own rates, we are living and learning. There's so much to grasp in this walk with our Love, so much to obtain in knowledge and depth of insight. It's such a blessing to have the opportunity to also learn from each other! To spread the news of what He is doing, to share, encourage, and uplift one another in Jesus' name.

The question isn't why share?, it's why not?. ;)

Craving Fearless Authenticity | a blogging foundation

Project patience is a blog I really felt God inspiring me to pursue some three or four weeks ago. I was pumped, excited, and ready to write about all sorts of things- relationships, singleness, lessons learned, and even parts from my own personal story- but right from the beginning, I felt a check.

Instructions to use caution as I write this blog. 

Don't run away with this, Hannah, this is Mine.

You see, this is meant to be a God-lead and God-centered project. From that very beginning, I sat back from the laptop on my bed and said,

"Okay, God. This is for You. Before I write anything, I will spend time in the Word, and in prayer with You. Lead me..."

Well, I began writing on dozens of topics, all of which remain half-finished thoughts, saved as drafts because of the constant wall I kept hitting. I would just come to a place where I couldn't write anymore: inspiration left. And I knew I was being told to leave that particular topic alone, to come back to at the proper time. If at all. 

For some reason, things weren't flowing smoothly and that was frustrating...

So far, there have only been three posts published on here, the only ones I've felt peace about, and heard the gentle, "Go ahead and click publish, Hannah." And they have all been very introductory posts, just explaining what this blog is about, the motives behind it, and the goals set before it.

And I struggled, because I wanted to see this get moving! 

Project Patience is a two-edged sword for me, because in my eagerness to see it move along, I was forgetting that I needed to have patience. It became quite evident that I needed to slow down and take my time (or God's time!) with this. 

Ironically, you can't rush a patience project. 


I addressed in my most recent post my dealings with something I'm going to call Writer's Anxiety Syndrome- let's abbreviate that to W.A.S.- because I proclaim that it shall no longer exist!

I'm booting fear out the door. Because, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10 NIV)!!!

And what have I always been afraid of? Displaying my flaws. 

Here's the problem with trying to portray a perfect, neat life: IT DOES NOT MAKE YOU AN ATTRACTIVE CHRISTIAN TO A LOST WORLD.

If anything, doesn't it frustrate people? Make them envious?
And doesn't it cage you in a corner, suddenly balancing your secret life while keeping up the veil of falsehood for everyone else to see? Doesn't it make you... a liar?

That sounds pretty bad.

Here's the liberating truth:

The point of being a Christian is so not to look perfect! It is to glorify God for His mercy, which is available to everyone! It is to show the World what a work He is doing in you! To say- Look! I am so imperfect! And yet Jesus Loves me, just as He Loves you.


My weaknesses and my flaws are such an opportunity. Because once I acknowledge them, I am able to welcome God in to do something about them. He has an amazing project to do in me. And I don't think He wants me to keep His awesomeness a secret.

We're called to shine the light, not suppress it. And sometimes we get it into our heads that our flaws, somehow, have the power to dim His light. As if!

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (II Corinthians 11:9-10 NIV)

This isn't made up! This is true!!
And isn't it awesome?

I want to be real. Recklessly.
Who I am with my friends is who I am with my professors, is who I am with my grandparents, is who I am with strangers, is who I am with my siblings, is who I am at home, is who I am in prayer- it's all the same person. There are no masks. No impression management.

This is where I want to get to.

I crave a fearless authenticity. 
And I crave to walk closer with my God. Because I can't do this if I'm doing my own thing. I will become my only focus again, and then I will focus on what people see of me.

When I began this blog, I was using a pen name.

But then I felt Him, I heard the calling. I wanted in my heart to be authentic, did I not? Well, first step: don't hide. I had a mental war about this. But the answer was always be still... and God won. :P
None of my worries matter, because everything is going to be exposed in the Light for what it is.

This is not about me. This is about HIM.

I may feel like this blog is taking a while, but I'm beginning to see that this is because I am taking a while to get to where God wants me. I need to completely surrender to Him. Again and again. Morning by morning.

All of these preliminary posts have a purpose. They are laying a foundation for this blog. And I am being prepared for what is to come.

I'm getting heart-ready first. Waiting, praying, and being still.

"Writer's Anxiety Syndrome"

I have written blog posts so many times in the past where I would whip out everything I was thinking and feeling- good and bad- and flood my words out through a keyboard.

They were let loose, only to be accompanied by second guessing myself, the feeling of nervousness, hasty editing, and anxiety clenching my insides...

"What if someone finds a flaw with what I wrote? What if I said something wrong?

It sounds ridiculous, I know. But I struggle with intense anxiety about pleasing people.
I should write that in past tense, because I'm on my way to kicking this thing right our the door of my brain! And I want to view it as an issue already discarded.

I say this a lot: but it is hard to share your writing. Because it makes you vulnerable. You're handing over a piece of your soul when you hand someone your notebook. Your writing is a reflection of you, and is just as subject to flaws. You don't want people to catch them.

When it comes to blogging for me, there are two probable causes for my past anxiety:

• What I was writing was totally of myself. It was not God-led, and therefore not God-centered, and therefore ultimately not of His will... and my Spirit was trying to tell me that.
• I was allowing myself to worry about what people would think of me for it, rather than caring about what God thought of me for it, letting the enemy whisper Fear into my mind.
  

I am so done with that crummy way of existing!

People pleasing. We all do it to some extent, but to those of us with a high tendency for it, we need to step back and ask ourselves, "Are we serving God, or man? Is the purpose of our actions to make us look good to everyone, or to glorify our Heavenly Father?"

If you choose God, then follow Him with reckless abandon. That's it. Even (and especially!) when it conflicts with man's approval.

And it's a process. A tough one: undoing all your tangled past ways of thinking... this will take a while. But it is worth it.

To know rest.

If I am allowing myself to heed that still small voice, and am being led in my writing by the Lord, then I am going to know His unshakable state of peace. I rest here in His arms, content with His will, His plan, and His perfect timing. 

This is something I know God wants to instill in me. And I want it so badly, too. Peace! The skill to stop worrying. And more specifically, the ability to cease worrying about how others perceive me. 

My focus must be Jesus's gracious acceptance, not man's temporary and fickle acceptance.

That said, I want to be real.

And that's the topic of my next post. :)