Blogger’s Lounge–For Women Only

Aubrey, you got a few answers in all the previous posts/comments. I used to be a writer/editor and absolutely loved it. Then children came and I no longer worked in publications. I mostly quit writing (no blogs then), but I did over several years write What Can a Mother Do? (trying to finish an updated version).

Instead I began speaking, and that has been a major focus for years. But the desire to write returned. My motivation in life is much more defined now–to encourage God’s children to believe God for the more He wants to do in and through them. Both my blogs–God Has More (www.mygcx.org/GlobalStaffWomen/screen/blog) and Kindling (http://inkindle.wordpress.com/)–have that purpose.
My problem is I would rather be writing my blogs than doing my other work.

I started blogging (www.momentsofclaritybygretchen.blogspot.com) as a way to connect with students who were blogging several years ago…it was a great little community we had where we shared our thoughts and ideas and had some great discussions about life. I was home with kids during much of the week, so when face-to-face wasn’t possible, connecting through blogs was a good option.

Now I feel like my blog has split personalities…I blog about campus ministry, about parenting and our Ethiopian adoption, and about what God is teaching me. I do like to use it as a way to journal the life of our family and things that happen, and since I’ve come to the realization that I’m a loser scrapbooker, the blog is a good place to collect many of our family memories

I continue to wrestle at times with whether or not I’m authentic in my writing – being honest, or being overly aware of the audience who will be reading it. But I love the creative outlet, and love finding other mom-ministry-bloggers!

Totally in unity with being a loser scrapbooker.

I started blogging as a permanent place to connect with our family due to us constantly moving. It’s been great for that, but as time as passed….I fell in love with writing and connecting with other moms online.

I continue to wrestle with using my blog time for excellence, I can quickly waste time reading others’ lives as if they’re a soap opera and not real, living, creations of God.

I’ve also really enjoyed Twitter. To read a snippet of another Mom’s triumph at the grocery store with little ones in tow, I rejoice with her! It’s also a great way to pray for other women, seeing what’s ahead for their day.

I hope, above all else, that as Moms who aren’t believers interact with me through blogging and twitter, they see that I share their same battles, struggles, and tiring days. Our common ground is so easy to see.

Also, has anyone created their blog into a bound book with Blurb? I love this option, but don’t know much about it.

I blog a lot as an outlet. Still being in college and looking at doing college ministry, I noticed that blogging is a huge networking tool. It was hard at first for me to find any information on college ministry–and I was gaining it all from blogs. When I have ideas of things that I am going through or things friends pose to me as problems–I blog them. When I listen to a lecture in class that relates to college ministry I blog them.

This semester I have been taking a class called “Women in Ministry” and have also started dating an incredible guy–who does not necessarily see vocational ministry as his calling. By following the blogs of Godly women–I have been able to realize that God can still use me if I am single or if my future husband is not in vocational ministry with me. They have also encouraged me and showed me that probably the greatest ministry that I will have will be to my future husband and children.

Unfortunately, I go through times when I feel like I have no time to blog. Recently, I sat down and had about 10 ideas for blogs–so, I wrote them and then just scheduled them to automatically post daily. I am trying to get in the habit of posting more regularly–especially with my ministry internship coming up soon.

I blog at http://affirmedpassion.blogspot.com/ and choose the name because God keeps affirming in my life my passion for him and for ministry to college students. I have been struggling to decide if I want my blog to be strictly ministry or ideas–but have recently decided to start using it a lot as a journal, and hopefully someday include not only my ministry, but my family as well.

I just used the automatic posting feature recently! It was great.

I have always enjoyed a good story – especially sharing one of my own! Life is full of meaningful adventures and I seem to be a magnet for wacky experiences that must be shared! Being incarcerated in Ukraine, having all the sewage of our 9-story building flood through our bathroom…. you get the idea. Before blogs, I would try to email them to friends and family, but I always wondered if people were really interested in reading about my adventures and misadventures.

Blogging has provided a wonderful place for me to share my thoughts and stories. I am not adding to the inbox pile we all seem to be constantly trying to craw out from under. I post, I let them know I’ve posted through twitter/facebook and they can read or not. (http://cherylboyd.blogspot.com/)

For a while I wondered if my blog wasn’t too frivolous. I love reading the deep and meaningful thoughts on the blogs of great leaders. On the other hand, I also enjoy fun blogs. I finally decided that, as with other areas of life, it is not about comparing myself to others, but being fully who God made ME to be. So, I settled on sharing my stories and my reflections on deeper issues that the Lord has placed on my heart. I pray that those who read are not just entertained, but challenged to draw into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

I’ve been reading blogs for a while and enjoy keeping up on other friends, their families and ministries but I’ve never wanted to blog myself. My husband recently convinced me to start a blog (jodymccomas.worpress.com) and honestly I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’ve always thought “what do I have to share with others that they would want to read about?” I know that’s a lie that Satan can use against me “you have nothing to offer” and I fight against it regularly.

Our lives have been crazy lately so I haven’t been able to keep up on it. Sometimes I feel like it’s just another obligation and then feel guilty when I don’t do it. Then other times I feel like it’s connecting with other women and it’s valuable and relational. I also struggle with knowing how vulnerable to be and what to share and what not to share. So honestly for me the jury is still out to see how I do at this whole blogging thing but I want to be a learner and be challenged and at this point it’s serving that purpose.

I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now. (www.conversationinfaith.wordpress.com) It came out of an urge to write and talk about faith related issues and to encourage respectful, thoughtful discussion. The desire to write is a later in life phenomena for me and blogging helps give me the discipline and focus I need. If I hadn’t committed to post something every week, I would think about writing but would never actually write. I blog occasionally at my campus ministry website (www.truenorthonline.org). I should commit to a regular schedule there also, but… can I write two columns a week??

I’ve been blogging since I was 15, since before the majority of the world knew the word “blog”. The entire time it’s been an outlet – a form of online journal – a place where I can just put my thoughts “out there.” For awhile I stopped blogging because I was misusing it and realized that I never wanted anyone I knew to actually read it; it was my rant-space. So I took those posts offline (but still have a copy of them).

Currently my blog <a href"http://jessinhotpink.comjessinhotpink.com is still a personal blog. It’s a place where I’ve chosen to talk openly, honestly and publically about my burnout & depression experiences etc. It’s a place where I share YouTube videos I like and music I’m listening to, like my twitter feed. But it’s still a place where I wouldn’t want just anyone to go. For this reason I recently started another blog <a href="http://stiragir.wordpress.comStir/Agir to post my experiences, lessons, and thoughts on being a new staff with Campus for Christ in Canada. I’ve found that I’ve really valued talking to other new staff about their experiences and so I figured it could be helpful to other new staff.

Mostly, I really enjoy writing. I’ve always enjoyed writing and it would be my *dream* to be a “writer” and this is where I practice, I guess.

I started blogging a little over a year ago.

I am an avid reader who loves to take in lots of information, formulate new thoughts and ideas, and then engage in lively discussion with others over those ideas. (My top 5 StrengthsFinders strengths are Input, Strategic, Learner, Ideation and Activator.)

This was great when I was on campus full-time. But not so great once I became a mother of three children born within three years of each other. All of a sudden I was home most of the day with no one to talk to. I needed an outlet!

My blog is called InfiniteQueso (http://www.infinitequeso.com). I blog mostly about my many and varied passions: the person of Jesus, theology, missions, mixtapes, adoption, race and ethnicity, changing the world, books, pop culture, college life, womanhood, spiritual leadership, etc. I also throw in funny stories, usually about my kids. I really love to laugh.

Were any of you as intimidated as I was about entering the blogosphere, especially as a woman? It seems to me that blogs often fall into two categories: women writing “mommy blogs” (not that there’s anything wrong with that…my blog often falls into that category! ) and men writing about Important Topics. Almost all the top blogs are written by men. Why is that?

Also, I’d love to hear from any of you on how you ride the tensions inherent in promoting your blog. I struggle with mixed motives in “advertising” my posts. Part of me wants to point others to Jesus and expand His Kingdom. Part of me wants others to think I’m cool/smart/funny/etc. (Really I just want others to think of me, period! ) That’s a yucky part of me. How did y’all (did I mention I’m from Texas?) land on your own “self-promotion policy?”

Yep, Stephanie. Hard to handle to mixed motives. I kind of wish you hadn’t brought that up. God has always had me on a no promoting myself for writing or speaking–both of which I love. But since I have been blogging–and my purpose is my passion to challenge/encourage/motivate people to believe God for more–I have felt free to promote it, though a little self-serving at times. Now I will have to take this to the Lord and see what He says.

I am travelling, so unfortunately I will have to read all your replies Monday and post my own reply if anyone wants to come back after the conference is over,

I blog to connect with my friends and family who live 8 hours away, since moving when
I got married and joined staff in Montreal.
Now I read a lot of blogs about Christian
Motherhood since I’m pregnant with my first and wasn’t raised by Christian parents I have a LOT to learn
Would love to read the blogs of some of you wonderful c4c moms in the USA as a resource for being a “staff mom” and Christian parent!
I blog at:
morricebump.blogspot.com
And
montrealnest.blogspot.com
Most posts are about decorating, crafting, cooking, parenting, and my journey with Jesus

Hi! What fun to read all of the reasons that women are blogging! I started blogging almost 2 years ago at http://www.ForMissionaryMoms.com . I started the blog originally because I was looking for a site/blog that connected moms in ministry overseas to one another and that provided resources and encouragement for “when the going gets rough.” At the time that I created it, I was the only mom or married woman on my team in the city where we served and had few peers (either age or stage of life) to relate to. To my surprise I didn’t find anything specifically that fit the description of what I was searching for, so I decided to start something on my own and to ask God to bless it and use it as a blessing to others. My hope and prayer has been to create an encouraging place of community and a place where women can gain bits of strength and to feel understood in the specific challenges of mothering and doing ministry overseas. I am not a “professional” blogger, so I am still working on the technical side of things. We also just had our 3rd baby a bit less than 4 months ago, so time is a bit more sparse. I’ve invited a number of contributors to help write for the blog, and they are SUCH a blessing with what they share!

Aside from creating my blog as a sort of personal ministry, I also see it as a hobby and outlet. I have always loved writing and blogging gives me a purposeful opportunity to use that interest. I am also a verbal processor, so I find that writing and sharing my experiences actually draws me closer to the Lord as I sit down and think through challenges and blessings and see what the Lord might want to teach me through them.

I have visited several of your blogs and look forward to visiting more!