Living (and Writing) on Purpose

If you know me and I asked you to use a handful of adjectives to describe me, “chatty” would most likely not be one you’d come up with. Because I'm not. I tend to be quiet and reflective. I prefer one-on-one chats to large group conversations. And I’m perfectly content to listen to and observe a conversation instead of dominating it. I suspect my blog reflects that part of my personality.

In the world of blogging, “chatty” is good. If you’re unfamiliar with this blogging stuff, you probably wouldn’t believe the number of moms, both Christian and not, who spend their days "chatting" in the blogosphere with others like them. (When I was a young mom craving connections this probably would have appealed to me.) Anyway it’s pretty clear the chattier blogs are more “popular.” It seems they attract a larger audience and receive lots of comments. And chatty or not, comments are the life blood of any blogger!

Sometimes, seeing all of this “popularity” and the numbers of comments others receive makes me feel overlooked and left out. Like the one not picked for the team or asked to the dance. And it’s discouraging, at times, to spend so much time writing an entry it seems hardly anyone reads.
But when my thoughts go in this direction, I give myself a whack on the head to recall why I blog. It’s not to become a popular blogger, seek out friendships or write about the details of my day-to-day life as a mom (not that I can imagine anyone being the least bit interested!). It’s to honor God with the insights and writing ability He’s given me. I'm still finding my way, and while it's not my purpose I have met some lovely people in the process.

About three weeks ago I installed a free program that tracks traffic to my blog. With it I can see how many people visit my site, how long they stay, how many pages they view and more. And you know what? I was shocked to find out—many more people view my blog than I imagined. (If you’re reading this, thank you!)

And coolest of all, a world map geographically pinpoints my blog’s visitors. (Don’t worry; it doesn’t reveal your name, address or any personal information!) The web is truly worldwide and in 21 days I’ve had visitors from all over the United States, plus South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Philippines, Pakistan, Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, England and Brazil. Sitting at my desk, in almost complete anonymity, my words have traveled to six out of seven continents (and I don’t even think they have the internet in Antarctica)!

It’s amazing! (Although some of those visits were from people looking for something completely unrelated, like a person in Pakistan who Googled “free awesome god karaoke.”)

I’ll admit my selfish side was happy to see my words going further than I’d thought. But once the thrill of virtual world travel wore off, I realized a greater sense of responsibility to not only write well, but also to share the Good News. Because I really don’t know who might land on the steps of my blog. And each of you with a web-presence has this same opportunity

To that end I wanted to share something based on a book I was reading yesterday.
To be continued...

Check back tomorrow for part two. And one more thing...please do a girl a favor and leave a comment and say, "Hi!" Seeing you as a dot on a map is great, but “meeting” you is so much better! :-)