Someone asked me a question last week.
And then yesterday morning someone else asked me the same question, almost word for word. I usually take that as a sign that it’s something that should be addressed.
How has the “blogging community” impacted your life?
There are super obvious ways like the amazing women that I’ve met and the lifelong friendships I’ve formed in the past three years. As good and as deep in this brief period as the relationships I formed in college. It’s been one of those pivotal times in my life: sometimes you are completely aware that the choices that you are making and the things that are happening are very important, that they will shape the course of your life, that the paths you take right now are
very
very
crucial.
That’s the way I feel about the last few years and the blogging community.
Blogging has completely shaped my writing, practically speaking. I have disciplined myself to write between 300 and 500 words every weekday and I attempt to write them well. That doesn’t always happen. Some days its a great post, and other days I’m just going through the motions. But even during those days, I think it still helps my discipline: doing something even when I don’t feel inspired or that I have something burning to talk about.
Blogging has also taught me to listen to my life, to watch my children, to hear God speaking to me on my back porch, in my car and during my runs. I observe the world both big and small, and each day I practice is one more day I get to hear the sublime in the very, very normal. There is beauty in that.
But the most important thing blogging has done for me or through me, is that it’s let me get to know so many of you.
Your stories! Your beautiful, amazing, heart-broken stories. I’m so humbled that you trust me with your hearts like that. It’s such a mind-blowing thing: these story-connections.
Thank you for your stories. They are gifts I don’t deserve.
But that’s the community.
That’s the beauty of this internet-craziness.
That is where it all pays off.
How has blogging or reading blogs impacted you?
Blogging has changed me completely. It all started when a friend told me about Angie Smith’s blog “bring the rain”. After reading her story from the past 2 years that I missed God took hold of my heart and begin to work within me. Everything begin to unfold as I begin to ask myself….
Would I tell God to bring the rain in my life and still glorify Him? Whew! That was tough but slowly I am beginning to say YES!! Yes….Bring the rain. She changed my whole outlook.
And of course pictures….I now document so much of my life through our blog to print and being exposed to Project Life by Becky Higgins! None of these would be in my life if it weren’t for one friend telling me about one blog that has exploded into a blessing. See one suggestion can make a difference!!
And of course you speaking to my heart to pick up the phone to call my family and make amends. (From your “Talking to Yourself” post last November. WOW!! That was a mircle. That was God using you Sarah. Thank you again!!! I am eating dinner with them this weekend!!! And it’s our 3rd get together!
Talk it up ladies!!!
My mom directed me to a blog, which directed me to Angie Smith’s blog. Her’s was the first I ‘subscribed’ to and I totally agree with you Sheena. Would I still praise God even when the rain was pouring down?
Incidentally, Angie led me to (in)courage which led me to Sarah! And I’ve been so blessed because of it
I couldn’t even begin to tell you the impact blogs/blogging has had on my life. I want to be transparent and truthful. I don’t want to blog or read blogs that don’t feel real. Yours is a prime example of being transparent and truthful. Thank you for sharing your story with us all.
I only read 3 blogs and yours is one of them. The day I found yours I knew it was going to be ok. I was not alone on this journey that I had been struggling on.
It made me feel that there are others out there that I can relate to and I didn’t have to be so hard on myself. It has shown me that I can fall in love all over again with my husband.
I faithfully read everyday and though I may not always comment, you and your words are molding me and my relationship with God and my husband.
Thank you for your faithfulness and open heart and raw words. You will never know the impact they have had on me.
~Sarah~
I think that reading blogs and encouraging others as they write is maybe more important that what I actually blog. ha! But, yes, it is such a blessing to me . . .all of it! Huge. I try to explain to others who don’t blog or read them, and I can tell it’s hard for them to relate to. But, God has me in a rather isolated place. This has been His blessing to me, that I need not be alone and can also contribute whatever He gives me to.
Thank you, Sarah, for being there for me! You are a beautiful blessing! deb
Debbie, You took the words right out of my head & put them in your comment!! ESPlagarism?? J/K!!
I have been unemployed since Nov 2008. I can only watch so much TV. And I hate cleaning. So I wander through about 50 blogs a day. There are some that I go to first. There are some I comment on. But, there is a kinship. Whether it is woman-to-woman, friend to friend, or a newby.
When I struggle, I tweet & get such an awesome response. I only have a little over 100 followers. I have met a handful IRL. Doesn’t matter because it’s the hearts and the words and the virtual hugs. I, too, have learned to be a commenter more than a blogger. Funny how that happened!! I hate writing, so maybe writing TO someone in a comment is a way of talking about my fears, my dreams, my joys, and just a hello! Great words, Debbie. Thanks.
Since being off work last fall I have come to a place that is restful, peaceful and stretching. I started my own blog in January with my husband’s encouragement. Then I stretched more by reaching out and asking for some readers who would be my ‘feedback.’ God is faithful and is using blogs like YOURS to teach me and instruct me and encourage me along this journey. I read about 20 now and I have my favorites that I always open. The others I read at different times in the day.
You are an inspiration as you encourage others to THINK and explore the reality of life, the raw moments and feelings and then put those feelings in to words. Thank you for your insite, and your faithfulness to your writing and to your readers you challenge us often and that means alot.
And how YOUR stories have positively impacted MY life Sarah… thank you so much for the courage it takes for you to find your stories too
I am blessed because of them!
I concur Sarah! All those are great points. It’s funny how writing has a way of linking hearts together as we journey through life. It’s powerful! I love the way God has made me more aware of Him in daily life and more aware of others and what they are going through. He has given me a greater respect for words and just how much each and everyone of them can speak life, encouragement,and love into others! I love trying to put life into words
I love that last line, Charissa : “…trying to put life into words.” Totally!
ps – I have been loving your blog lately
i think i’ve said this to you before, but -for me- it all started with sitting in my doctor’s office when i picked up a pregnancy (which i wasn’t) magazine and saw lisa leonard’s ad. i ended up ordering about seven gifts from her the following day. even so, it took me several days to realize she had a blog. through her, i found you…found lindsey nobles…found bianca juarez…found boomama…found big mama…
found beauty for ashes, penned by me.
i haven’t journaled -really- for probably two years, despite my better judgment. and i am a much better writer than i am a speaker (because of the delete button, which comes in handy when the filter between my brain and my mouth fails to work.)
i am so grateful for the gift god has given back to me through you girls. like, un…be.LIEVably.G R A T E.ful. i feel like you are my friends and i am privileged to know your stories, to know ‘it’s not just me’ and to be able to share my own with others.
xo
Sarah! Such a great topic for today!
Bloggging has become SO impacting in my life since last summer. I started reading blogs when an old friend of mine started a blog….I quickly ran into yours and have read yours everyday from the day I came across it!
Reading your blog has taught me the value of honesty, transparency, grace, and has really helped me to try to understand others (especially my husband!) better.
Alece’s blog at GritandGlory has taught me so much about trusting God and seeking to understand His heart for us and love Him and trust Him even when we don’t understand the pain in our own lives. She, like you, has also been example of choosing to see the beauty in life.
Elizabeth Esther, who I just recently found by clicking on one of your comments, has been rocking my world lately as my eyes are being opened to so many things and really tearing down some incorrect perceptions I had in my view of God. It has been changing my heart.
And just recently starting a blog myself has really helped me to:
ONE – take some steps out of the bondage of fear
TWO – be intentional about I choose to look at things in my life
THREE – to Notice and Observe what is really going on in my heart
FOUR – to practice something I really like to do (writing) and actually have a little place all my own to send it.
thanks for everything Sarah!
God has used blogging to grow me in my relationship with Him, first and foremost. Reading blogs, particularly yours, Sarah, have shown me that things aren’t perfect and that God takes us just as we are.
Because of a post you wrote for (in)courage that was published January 4th my life is COMPLETELY different. I read your story and it showed me I have to be honest with myself, I needed to come clean and confess stuff that had been bottled up inside of me for years, even though it was ridiculously tough. Me confessing that to a trusted mentor and saying it out loud and her response of nothing but love, grace and more changed my outlook on my walk with Christ.
I haven’t ‘come clean’ publicly just because I don’t think God wants to use me in that way JUST yet. Some day it’ll happen, and while God did the changing, it was all because of your story.
So thanks for being honest and transparent. Even when it’s tough.
Giving this year to God was the best decision I’ve ever made and BOY has He shown up.
Blogging has made me brave.
Before the blogging community, maybe fifteen people total had read my writing.
Now I have friends from across the country, friends I’ve never met and casual passerbys read my heart on the page.
The feedback encourages me. Reading better writers stretches me.
It is the world’s best writer’s group.
Thank you for your part in that, Sarah!
…it gave me YOU.
It has really made me more introspective… as I write, I find answers to my own questions, or I capture moments in ways that I hadn’t noticed before. It’s allowed me to share things with my family, friends, strangers and even my husband. It’s opened up a whole other world for me where I can just let go and be open.
Blogging has provided me with an opportunity to minister to women around the world without ever leaving my house. With two young children at home, this is an opportunity that I would not be able to have if blogging didn’t provide it!
Blogging has also provided me with an incredible network of support that get me through when I don’t have another adult to talk to face-to-face.
Thank you for reminding me why I write.
i enjoy seeing how god uses others in their different circumstances. i think reading about it helps build your faith and see his sovereignty. we go through issues in our life not only to be refined, but to help others in their times of need. 1 cor 1:3-4 so if my story can help someone else, it seems to make the fires worth it.
it has been relatively recently that the Lord has really used the blogging community to minister to me. when my fiance broke off our engagement i didn’t know a soul who had ever experienced anything even close to being that life altering and shattering. however, somehow ((can we say the Lord??)) i found blogs of women who had walked in equally ((if not more!)) difficult circumstances. the Lord uses these women and some men to encourage me daily. their words, their stories of redemption and restoration, their trust in the Lord on the other side of the storms of this life encourages me on my darkest days. it reminds me that the Lord is faithful. that He is in the business of miracles. that He is a God who answers prayer. that our Jesus is into the impossible.
thank you for being one of those women for me, sarah.
I’ve been through that. Mine called it off 10 days before the wedding. Hindsight? Best thing that could’ve happened to me. I married, almost 10 years later to the day, a man who is infinitely better for me. Who was praying for me as I went through all of it. Even though he didn’t know me yet. Feel free to get in touch if you need some support, encouragement, or a listening ear.
Hi Sarah
I am so encouraged by your blog and Faith Barista’s. I feel connected to your blog due to the similar story my parents share with you and your husband and the restoration that Almighty God has done in all of our lives.Thank you Sarah for being faithful to God and blessing us… and LS…Isaiah 55;8-9 encouraged me when I broke up with my boyfriend of 8 yrs due to choosing to live for Christ four yrs ago.He wanted no parts of living a holy lifestyle… so even though I broke up with him, it felt like he rejected me. You will heal…God is protecting you through this break up. It took me a few years to believe it too, but God is for us and not against us sweet sister.We are so loved by Him.
Joyfully
Stephanie
thanks Stephanie. i love bonnie at faith barista too. =)
Thank you for your stories- your voice.
Thanks for responding to that question so soon, Sarah! It was actually on my mind last week to ask you. It’s been so encouraging to hear the responses…it’s all an echo of the same reasons that drew me in and keep me here as well.
you are welcome april. =) thanks for asking.
That’s easy, Sarah. I got to meet you and The Chad. Y’all are two of the most generous – most giving people I know. And we laugh a lot together, too!