It’s technically the day after the first year anniversary of my blog. I had a post all lined up, but then it didn’t feel right and I’ve been wondering all day what to write today. What do I write to celebrate one year of intentional blogging?
In my very first post, I wrote about new beginnings and finally feeling like I’m using my writing to honor God. And I wrote about what I seem to write about a lot. God has a plan for us we can’t begin to imagine. We need to take life one step of faith at a time. We have headcase moments that bring us down, but we also have a God who is always with us.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have kept some kind of diary or journal. I didn’t write consistently, but I consistently had some place to jot down thoughts and feelings that I needed to sort through. That’s probably a good thing because I have gaps in my memory.
They’re not blank like I have amnesia. They’re more like blurs as if life passed by unassumingly. And that…that is just sad.
The past handful of years leading up to 2013 were a blur. Like living in a constant fog. I can’t recall what they were about. I don’t have any memory markers that point to change, growth, or commemorations. I’ll need to consult whichever notebooks or computer files I wrote in during those years to remember.
But 2013 was a turning point. It was the year I really felt like I was rising out of my ashes, like I finally kicked off the last smudges of mud off my feet. I felt lighter, ready to run, ready to live. I was ready to live intentionally.
You know when Jesus talked about wineskins and how new wine must be poured into new wineskins because if old wineskins are used, the old wineskins would burst (they are unable to hold/contain new wine). I finally got that in a very personal way.
Jesus was ushering in a New Covenant, made by His sacrifice on the cross. That’s new wine. The Old Covenant under the Law of Moses is the old wine. When under the Old Covenant, you need all the offerings and sacrifices to be forgiven by God, under the New Covenant, you only need faith in Jesus Christ. This New Covenant doesn’t fit in the old wineskin, the paradigms of faith the Pharisees cling to. We need new wineskin, the paradigms of faith of the followers of Christ.
At my turning point, I was relearning a lot of things about faith. I knew how to pray, study the Word of God, worship, etc. but I felt like a toddler learning to walk, talk, and read. I was learning how to pray, study the Word of God, worship, etc. because I had new wine.
I kept praying, God I remember how I was before, when I was younger. I remember the passion, the fire. But I don’t want that anymore. I want something new because I’m different.
I wanted a new kind of relationship with God. I wanted a new way of praying, studying the Word, worshiping, etc. I wanted – no, I needed a new way of relating with Him, a new wineskin. I can’t go back. I need and want to move forward.
And as I continued to pray that, to pursue that, He created this thing inside me craving to use everything I’ve got to honor Him. I started to read about being intentional in blogging. I’ve had a blog for years (it’s not this one). I wrote whatever I wanted to write and only whenever I cared to write.
But to blog for God? Who? Me? What a concept! What will I write about? What happens if I say something wrong and lead someone astray? Why would anyone want to read my words? I don’t know if I can learn WordPress. I can’t afford self-hosting, whatever that is. How do I even start?
I was like a fish on a hook, though, and before I knew it, I was writing my first post on this blog. God sent self-hosting deals my way and resources like this one. He opened me to the world of blogging I never knew about. He showed me how my words can make a difference, and even if nobody ever reads my blog ever…all that matters is I obey Him.
And so I come to start another year of blogging intentionally. Honoring God intentionally. Living intentionally, by His grace, one step of faith at a time.
And thank you for taking each step with me! Please stick around and let’s live by grace and faith together.
