The Blog and Me

Again I come to another subject which I have bumped into over the past week or two. It comes up again as I read that Jeff at Proverbs Daily has decided to shut down his blog, as he finds it takes away too much time from his responsibilities. I heartily congratulate Jeff for his prayerful decision. I'm sure the next few weeks will be both liberating and excruciating as he uses his time differently and finds one less outlet for his thoughts. I suggest everyone go over and read through the archives while they are still posted.

I admire those who put so much time and effort into their blogs. Six or seven posts a day, lots of links, giveaways, long comment threads... that's gotta take a lot of effort. And I'll never try to delve into a blogger's motives. Jeff writes that he kept working on and improving his blog to for God's glory. He wanted it to be better for Him. I can appreciate that. Although personally, I've always used the refrigerator illustration. I display works of art on my refrigerator that nobody in their right mind would be writing me thousand dollar checks to purchase. Yet I am more proud of those bits of art than if I had a Rembrandt on the Frigidare. Why? The artist means a lot to me and I'm proud of what that artist has done. I think God feels the same way with His children too. Excellence is great, but nothing we can come up with is worthy of God. It's our heart that matters. I know it's always a temptation with anything to put too much time into it and shortchange family, work and other things. Any hobby can infringe upon the time we should be spending elsewhere. And let's face it, the computer can be addictive.

When I began this blog, I began as simply a frustrated writer in need of a place to express himself. I've done a little writing, including some co-editing and co-authoring a few books at the denominational level. I had even written some short newspaper columns that I may dig out one day. At the beginning of the year I had visited a grand total of two blogs, had never heard of Hugh Hewitt, and had only heard about blogs in relation to swift boats. But when Steve Dennie began his blog, I decided that this would be the way for me to work on my writing. Steve is a writer, and a pretty good one at that, and I figured that a blog would give me an outlet for my writing that I simply didn't have. It was strange the first few posts, and I told no one about this place. After all, this was to be about my writing and expressing what the Lord had put on my heart.

After a couple of weeks I showed my wife the blog and a couple of weeks later I let some friends know about it. I figured that some folks might enjoy reading these posts. Eventually I gave the address to the people at church, but to the best of my knowledge none have ever accessed Attention Span. But that was fine. I didn't start a blog to make friends or to be a blogging celebrity. But you know, there's always that temptation to blog for my own glory and not for God's.

As I blogged, I began poking around at other blogs. All it took was a comment from someone else, and a link here and a blogroll there, and I was hurtling through cyberspace so fast I got jet lag. I found out that there are a lot of great writers working through the blogisphere -- Christians and non-Christians alike. I commented on other blogs, followed links, posted links and eventually made some new friends, all in the span of a couple of months. I know some of you check here most days to read. And I truly appreciate that my writing is blessing people. But that is a secondary benefit for me. You won't catch me posting something just to post. I probably won't post each and every day through the summer because of my second job. In short, this blog isn't about me finding some way to entertain you. And I think that's the way it has to be -- for my homelife and for my sanity.

It's still all about me, my writing, and my relationship to God. I named this place Attention Span because whether I am focused on something for a long time or a short time, I find that I am always brought back to the love my Heavenly Father has for me. My attention span is usually the amount of time it takes for me to see God's love in whatever I see or hear. My experience has been phenomenal for me, not only the writing mechanics but the spiritual growth. Being able to express my thoughts has really opened up a new window to my soul where the music of my heart can escape and the bright light of His love can enter in.

I'm not about trying to stir up hits or pages read statistics. I won't be picking a controversial topic just to get more people to visit and comment. (Although I do have a Rick Warren post in me, yet to burst out!) I certainly appreciate my friends and everyone who stops by to read. I hope you'll be entertained, encouraged and maybe even challenged by what you continue to read here. I'll still post as God directs. I have a bunch of rumblings and drafts rolling through my head already. Whenever He lays something on me, I'll write it up. It's the same deal I have with Him now. And no matter how ugly the picture on the refrigerator, I know He's proud.