Why do I blog?

(WARNING – Really long post that may bore most of you out of your minds!)

Last night, my husband read my post about the candle. He shook his head and said, “I don’t understand the blogging thing. Who in the world would want to know about you buying a pear-scented candle?” (He wasn’t trying to be mean, the whole concept genuinely confuses him.) I, of course, pointed out with a smirk that HE reads it, now doesn’t he?! But it got me thinking…why DO I do this?

I realized that there are a lot of answers to that question. (For those of you who don’t give a rip – feel free to walk away now. Knowing me, this could get long.) The first reason that jumps to my mind is that I’ve always had a “thing” with writing. I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. It somehow solidifies what I’m thinking – makes it more real, clearer, easier to put my arms around.

It fascinates me, the way God puts my life together. The name of my blog kind of says it all for me – my life strikes me as God’s weaving loom. An intersection of a bunch of threads that often seem random to me. Silly, stupid, “I-bought-a-pear-candle-when-I-really-wanted-to-buy-a-lilac-candle” moments. Maybe those would be the yellow threads in life; the things that make life sunny and fun, and never fail to make me giggle. Then there are the “blue thread” moments; the ones where nothing feels right, nothing makes sense and my attitude stinks. Some of my favorite ones are the moments that really matter; the things my kids do that make all the blood, sweat and tears of mothering worth it, the lessons God is teaching me, the relationships in my life. Those could be the vibrant red threads, perhaps? Each day of my life (and each post that I write) feels very random. But when I write them down, I can look back and see that God’s doing something. Each of those moments makes up a part of who I am; and someday, when I walk through the door of heaven, God will have woven together a beautiful tapestry that glorifies Him.

My husband’s response? KEEP A JOURNAL, WOMAN!! Yeah, I do that too. But I tend to only record the things that feel really important. And then I miss all the moments that just make life funny and interesting. My husband, by nature, is a private person. He cannot fathom why in the world anyone would want information about themselves just floating around for anyone to read. You have to hold a special place in my husband’s life to earn the privilege of really knowing him. God made me different. I have a fundamental desire to connect with other people, and it’s hard to connect with people who don’t know what’s going on in your life. Yes, I know, you’re thinking, “Hello-ooo, there’s such a thing as conversation! Pick up a phone! Go out to lunch!” But there again, my tendency is to only do that if I feel like there is something important to communicate. It’s a lot of work to go out to lunch when you have 4 little kids! And there are people that I wouldn’t have necessarily gotten to know better outside of “blog-world” (Kristi, Jenny). I hate that that’s true, but sometimes your life just doesn’t happen to intersect with other people that you would absolutely LOVE if you just got to know them. There are all sorts of things that happen in my life that I wouldn’t call my parents just to tell them, but they read about them here and they know me better. There’s even a former youth leader that I haven’t talked to in years that now I’ve gotten to re-connect with! (Bruce) :-)

Part of it is purely egotistical. I like to make people laugh, and I like the thought that people read this blog and occasionally get a chuckle. (We won’t even discuss whether that’s reality or not – it might damage my fragile ego!)

I think that one of my spiritual gifts is encouragement. Perhaps…maybe…other tired moms read about the crazy things that happen in my family and feel encouraged to “keep on truckin’”? Or read about my wacky tendencies and think, “I thought I was the only one that did stupid stuff like that!” Or, “Hey, if that girl can get through Leviticus, then by hankie, I can too!!” Even better, maybe an unbeliever would somehow stumble onto this site and see a woman who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and it would create a thirst in them. That’s a stretch, I know, but stranger things have happened!

Sometimes, like last week, I have nothing to say. Other times, like this week, I can’t shut-up! I’m not sure I really even understand all the reasons that I like to blog. But, I do. If you don’t care to read about the ins and outs of my life, then I seriously doubt you’re still reading. So, it doesn’t really matter, now does it?! :-)

Blogging – I salute you!!