First Year of Blogging

It's my blogging anniversary. A year ago, the Every Square Inch blog went "live" over the Memorial Day weekend and I thought I should note the first year of this humble, little blog.

Here are a few observations on my first year of blogging -

• God has used blogging as a means to sharpen my thinking on a number of issues. Very often that comes about as I interact with readers of Every Square Inch as well as those of a number of blogs I visit.

• I cannot sustain more than two posts/week. When I started blogging, I had hoped to post every other day. However, I've since realized that, despite my best efforts, that particular goal just wasn't going to be attainable with all I have going on in my life...and that's ok.

• I've come to greatly appreciate the friends I've "met" through blogging. I've been blessed whenever you've stopped by Every Square Inch with a comment or written something on your blog that pointed me to God in some way.

• Blogging makes me appreciate fellowship in a church community. As much as I love blogging as a medium for the exchange of thoughts and ideas, there are undeniable limitations. So in a strange way, blogging has made me more appreciative of the fellowship I experience at church. There is no substitute to experiencing fellowship heart to heart and face to face.

• I blog because I enjoy it.
  

Other points of interest after the first year of Every Square Inch -

• Post with most comments - Does Your Work Matter to God?
• Most popular post in a single day - Deconstructing Racism
• Most popular series is the series on Ambition - Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3
• The post I won't forget is the one honoring my late mother-in-law who passed away last October - Katherine Hubner - A Life Well Lived

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment or link to Every Square Inch - I'm humbled and grateful for your investment of time and interest.

Thinking Blogger Award

Thanks to the Hedonese, I'm the proud recipient of a Thinking Blogger Award. It's the first blogging award of any kind for me so I'm proudly displaying the award and patiently waiting for my cash prize which should arrive any day now.

Part of the fun of winning the award is bestowing other blogs with the award. Here are the blogs I've tagged as winners -

Ted Gossard who blogs at Jesus Community will make you think with his daily, thoughtful posts. The one thing you'll discover as a reader is that Ted blogs with warmth and humility.

SamShua is a blog I've recently discovered. The host of SamShua is Sam Shin, a pastor on the West Coast who blogs with a heart for the gospel and a love for people. Do yourself a favor by checking out his blog.

LL Barkat, who I'm certain is a repeat winner of the Thinking Blogger Award, is a remarkably gifted writer. She's built a great community of readers at Seedlings in Stone with her insightful posts.

David Park hosts NextGenerasianChurch blog with a heart for the growth of ethnic churches in the United States. To read his blog is to expose yourself to thought provoking posts on the intersection of race, faith and culture - offered from an asian american perspective.

GoodWordEditing is a great blog for any aspiring Christian writer. My blogging buddy, Marcus Goodyear shares his wisdom as a seasoned editor and reading his blog will make you a better writer.

The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote

Memeing My Own Business

Marcus Goodyear who blogs at GoodWordEditing is in the middle of what he calls "Meme Week". Not being a hip blogger, I don't really know what a meme is but he's asked me to share my productivity secrets. The best I can tell, in practice, this meme thing is the blogging equivalent of a chain letter.

Marcus insists that if I do not blog on this, I will be apprehended by the meme police. I highly doubt that the meme police will find me (the blogosphere is a big place) but nonetheless, I've decided to give in to Marcus' request since he's a nice guy. The sad thing is, I don't really have productivity secrets but I'll try and make them up as I go along.

#1 - Do what you like and like what you do

Doing what you like - If you like what you're doing, you're going to be a lot more productive. So pursue work that aligns with what brings joy and root it in God. Use the gifts God has given you and you'll maximize productivity in your life

Liking what you do - Sometimes you're not going to find work that exactly matches your gifts or aligns immediately with your bliss. Still, trust God to help you find joy and purpose in what you do. You can learn to love where God has put you - the secret is to trust God. I can truly say, by God's grace, that I've enjoyed every job I've had.

#2 - Dream, be bold, take risks

Being bold and taking risks is often linked to creativity...but it also leads to productivity as well. If you're pushed beyond your comfort zone, you're going to learn new skills, work harder and trust God. I find that I become more productive with my time when I'm not coasting. Do something that requires you to trust God to "show up" for the endeavor to be successful. There are a lot of caveats to this point but I won't go into them. The whole topic of risk taking is interesting and I hope to post on it sometime soon.

#3 - Mitigate and manage risks

This seems to be counter to my prior point but it really isn't. After I'm committed to doing #2, I then manage my time with an eye to mitigate (not eliminate) risk. This is more about juggling priorities than it is about eliminating or minimizing risk. For instance, if I'm overwhelmed with work, I address what is most pressing by focusing on the items of greatest risks to the enterprise. I'm not saying that's the best approach but it seems to be the one I take.


OK, Marcus - I've done it. Here are my productivity secrets...you can call off the meme police now.

The Greatest Blogging Advice Ever

Blogging Tip #1 - Create eye catching titles and make outrageous claims!

Actually, I'm fairly certain that this won't be the greatest blogging advice you'll ever read but as a relatively new blogger (a little more than 8 months) , I wanted to draw attention to tips and advice that I've found useful.

Bob Kauflin, who blogs on Worship Matters has great advice on blogging as worship to God. A must read for every Christian who blogs. Here's a snippet of what he says, applicable to the unfruitful conversations that occur on many blogs, sadly Christian blogs as well.

It never seems very sinful when we're writing from our heart, striking a few keys and, pushing "post." No one's there to give us feedback and we're just happy we said what we wanted to say. That's why Christian bloggers need a generous dose of humility. The nature of blogging implies that I think I have something worth saying. That's misleading. The ability to post my thoughts on the Internet is no guarantee that I have any idea what I'm talking about.

Blogging with humility? What a concept.

On a practical note, when I was getting started, I found the How to Start a Blog series from Joe Carter to be extremely helpful. In particular, his post on The 5/150 Principle is a great one because he encourages Christian bloggers not to focus on the pure numbers (visits, subscribers, etc...) and turns our attention to making a positive impact on readers. Blogging to serve others, perhaps?

I also heartily recommend my blogging friend, Marcus Goodyear who blogs at GoodWordEditing. In a current ongoing conversation, he offers five tips for building a community of readers. Marcus has done a great job, not simply in building his blogging community but also spurring positive discussion on his blog and elsewhere. Here's what I know about Marcus' blogging persona - he is both generous and encouraging to other bloggers which is probably why he's been successful building a community of readers.

I'll finish up with my bit of advice. Be accountable for what you write. Enlist a couple of other mature christians who will commit to occasionally read your blog and be willing to hold you accountable for unfruitful discussions, incorrect theology... or simply bad grammar.

Fellow bloggers, why do you blog? What piece of advice would you pass along to others? It may be reflective like Bob Kauflin's or practical like Marcus Goodyear's but please share it with us.