Why a blog? I listened to workshops on how to start a website, and without exception, they all said that a blog was necessary to allow people to get to know you. Providing fresh content daily enabled you to rank higher on search engines so more people can find your website. After all, you might as well not bother having a website if nobody is ever going to see it, they said.
So I looked at other people’s blogs, and I was annoyed by mostly rambling. Why would anyone want to listen to rambling? They talked about what they cooked for dinner. Or they told you they did some laundry that day. Does anybody really care about that?
Are you giving me fresh ideas on how to be a better wife and mother? Am I being convicted of sin? Am I actually getting to know you by knowing what you eat for dinner? It’s like the chit chat at a party that doesn’t go anywhere and has no eternal value. A deep conversation that talks about a struggle is worthwhile because it gets your mind to think, and later a Scripture might pop into your mind about it. Or at the very least, you can pray for that person. That’s worth something. When people are vulnerable and let their guards down, other people can get to know that person, and there is a human bond of companionship that results.
But if I pressure myself to write blog entries that are always deep, I will be emotionally exhausted, and that will drain me, and I won’t have energy for my own family. Also, what if I feel foggy one day and have nothing to write? I don’t want to be forced to write. True inspiration doesn’t work that way anyway. It comes in bursts.
So what to do? I came up with the idea of stockpiling blog entries. Then if I felt dry one day, I could use a fresh blog entry from a day that I wrote three because I was so inspired. I could also do sets of blogs. I could do 10 blogs on growing up as a missionary kid so people could know who I am and why I love hands-on learning so much. This would help them remember their childhood, and it would make them want to go climb trees and catch butterflies with their kids. Bombs went off, earthquakes happened, and people walked around with machine guns. That was my life. Would anyone be interested in that?
Then I could do 10 blog entries about when I lived in England. I traveled to poets’ houses, ran around castles, rode on a hot air balloon, and directed middle school plays. Would this be of use to anyone? Maybe, maybe not. (Possibly it would give people a greater love for literature and the medieval time period.) At least it would probably be fun to read. People could get to know me.
I could do 10 blog entries about traveling the world, starting with my cheap nightmare through Europe tour. Greece and the Greek Islands were fun, and so were Egypt and Turkey. Maybe homeschooling mothers would be encouraged to study geography more. I traveled to all these places before getting married, while I was still in England and it was way cheaper. I rationed my food to save every penny of my teacher’s salary so I could do this, knowing I wouldn’t have the money after I got married.
I started stockpiling blog posts before beginning this blog, and I realized that I have always loved writing! So this blog will be an outlet for writing about homeschooling and my walk with God.
