By Lori Byerly, The Generous Wife
As Christian marriage bloggers, most of us write to encourage couples in their marriage relationship. We come from a Christian faith, so what we write falls within biblical standards, but …
… why do we REALLY write?
I think initially I started blogging because I felt God nudging me to write. I thought what I knew would help and encourage others and it would be fun, right?
Later I would run into writer’s block, technical problems, mean commenters, and hurting people for whom I had no answers … and to top it off, I was paying for the privilege of all this heartache!
I had to dig deeper for reasons to write. Who were the people reading my posts? What honestly could I offer them? Why was I even doing this?
Those kinds of question will drive you to your knees. You start realizing that you aren’t the Vine, that He is and that you’re a branch reaching out to people looking for help. You start caring about your readers. They become real people, not just stats that mean you are becoming “popular.”
You start seeing the tremendous need and you spend time praying for other workers.
You learn that having an ego will take you down. You learn that serving others can mean cleaning up messed up computer code or speaking before crowds or staying kind in the face of a cranky poster. You start pointing to good resources. You bust yourself learning skills and then teach others what you’ve learned. You don’t worry about someone doing better or more. You don’t feel cheated when others get an award or an interview. You’re honestly pleased that ministry is out there available to those who need it. It’s about giving it away and helping others run faster and farther.
It’s about seeking excellence to honor Him and to make it easy for people to connect with you. It’s about facing failure and lack with humility (and hopefully a bit of humor).
It’s about not worrying about your reputation or your success. It’s knowing you won’t always get applauded (is the applause really for you anyway?).
It’s about serving. It’s about dying to self. It’s about loving Him and loving others. It’s about the joy of seeing His handwork in and through and around what you do ~ marriages healed, individuals encouraged and the lost finding their way home.
So … why do I write?
Mostly it’s because He made me a writer (I get a powerful itch if I don’t have pen in hand or a nearby keyboard), but the joy of it is seeing His handiwork. I love watching His ability and His goodness reaching through to restore and heal, to teach and grow. Though sometime bumpy and challenging, it’s good to trust Him in this crazy, wonderful adventure.