My Blogging Journey

There and back again – a Preacher’s tale.

Someone challenged me to write about my blogging journey. That might be a good exercise for me, but it could be boring for my readers. But maybe I can make it fun. Read on to find out more!

I started blogging way, way back in the dial-up internet days. In fact, I think it was a private group of fellow employees at the ministry for which I was working. Those posts are probably lost in a back-up someplace that I haven’t looked at in years. But it was fun to express myself through writing, which, until then, I had not done to that scale.

Blogging has its benefits

It was through that blog that my future wife began corresponding with me. (That’s another story that I won’t go into now, but let’s just say “You’ve Got Mail” a’int got nothing on us!)

She made a comment on a post, and didn’t realize that she would have to give her email address to make a comment, but after doing so her email address was so interesting, and her comment so intriguing, that I decided to contact her directly. And so a friendship was born that would eventually blossom into love. So I guess you could say that my blog brought us together.

Those were the golden years. When I would blog about current events or something going on in our young family. After I moved the blog to Xanga (anyone remember them?) my wife also started blogging, and we tried to record the events of our lives and the thoughts we had. I don’t think we ever even considered the idea of making money as bloggers. We just enjoyed writing and good discussion and this was a medium for both.

It was also a way for us to impact people’s lives which, for both my wife and myself, is a major motivation for most anything we do. We started to gain some early followers.

I blogged mainly about anything that I was thinking about. A sermon recording, “Thoughts on Monday…about Sunday” was a series, cute stuff our young children would do, cultural impact of Star Wars, lessons to learn from Lord of the Rings, etc. I was a young pastor, young husband, young father…..so you get the idea.

A time of darkness…

There was a period there when neither one of us blogged much. I believe a lot of the archives are posted on this site now, but it was long months between posts. Slowly the meager following I had developed went on to more interesting places. And I focused on the calling God had placed upon my life: to proclaim the Truth of His Word to families around the country. And my own family first and foremost.

So blogging took a back seat to work days, preaching, diapers, throw-up, relationships, more children, learning about my wife, learning about our children, rejection, broken arms, more children, moving to a new state, learning more, new vans, good friends, bi-vocational pastoring, more children…

You know, just the important stuff.

Somehow blogging doesn’t seem as important as learning to meet the needs of my wife, or spending time with an impressionable 6 year-old, or feeding the baby. (Which is probably because…it isn’t as important as those things.)

In the East, the light dawns!

Yeah, like, literally the East Coast. We were living in Virginia at the time. I can’t remember exactly when it happened, but in the midst of our crazy life I decided to make an actual attempt at a blogging business. I read some material from trusted sources that claimed a person could actually make a living as a blogger. I’ve always loved to write, and had natural talent for it, so the idea of making money as a writer appealed to me. I’ve had several book ideas, but a successful blog seemed more attainable than self-publishing and self-marketing a book. Even if it was only supplementary, it was a little bit of a dream.

I felt I had something to say, and a medium in which to express it, so all I really lacked was some organization and…well….some skin in the game so to speak. So far I hadn’t really risked anything other than personal rejection.

So I purchased a zoo….I mean, a domain. And PreacherDad.com was foisted upon the world! (So far the world isn’t really very aware of the incredible gift it was given when I started this website.) I spent a little money and started to learn.

I blogged a little bit more, and tried to learn about coding and web design and themes and plugins and all the other stuff that goes on behind the scenes of a regular website. It was quite a learning curve but I hope I’ve gained some skill. I certainly enjoy learning, so the journey was pleasant.

I shall diminish, and go into the west.

Well, hopefully I don’t diminish in the sense of my impact upon my family and society as a whole. But in the sense of my name diminishes and the name of Jesus Christ is lifted up, brighter and brighter until the light of His glory overpowers any light of myself. My light should be swallowed up in Him.

That’s my desire for the future, and if I can make a full-time living for my family while being eclipsed by God’s glory…sounds pretty great actually. But all of that, including our provision, is actually in the hands of the Lord. What ever the future brings on this blogging journey will be dedicated to His glory.

If you’ve read this far,

…perhaps you would like to help?

You can subscribe to our newsletter for the latest info from the blog or the podcast, and eventually that will include special offers and discounts to my readers. Every subscription does really make a difference, and you can share it with your friends also if you find anything here valuable. You can also contribute to our ministry here at PreacherDad.com by clicking the donate button at the bottom of the screen.