I have been whining and moaning to myself for a little while about having to write a blog. It stresses me out. I worry about saying just the right thing to portray just the right image of myself and to evoke just the right feelings and responses from those who will be reading. I worry about being vulnerable and open to anyone and everyone who will be reading this blog.
So to put it off, I began reading some of the "how to" articles that they offered me on blogging and I began to be struck by the realization that it really doesn't matter how I feel about blogging. The reason for having a public blog is not most importantly for me to reflect on what I have been going through, but to share these experiences with others. I am going on the World Race not only to help others and be changed myself, but also to impact people with my stories and experiences. To show that there is a whole world out there that needs our help and hopefully to encourage those at home and around the world to bigger and greater things. I know this is just a quote from a blogging tutorial, but I think it's a powerful statement:
"There are a lot of blogs right now that are being written by people who are not saying much. In fact, we have an entire generation of people engaging in conversations that don't matter. Wonderful pieces of technology are being squandered on exchanges revolving around a ego. We have the world at our literal fingertips, and we're wasting the opportunity to say something of meaning."
This blog is an opportunity, a mission field, and a responsibility that God has given me. It is not an avenue for either self glorification or self gratification, but a unique opportunity to serve others. It's about my experiences, but it's not about me. It's a chance to change the world as I myself am changed.
I hope that I will keep you, the readers, as well as my dear friends, in the foremost of my mind whenever I sit down to write a new blog post. That my motivation will be to both encourage and inform. "Storytelling is one of the most effective ministry strategies on and off the field, as it has the potential to reach all audiences around the world. AIM has seen stories that missionaries share change lives all over the world." I know that there will be any number of reasons that might keep me from blogging: self-consciousness, laziness, distraction, exhaustion, etc. But this is another aspect of ministry that I have been called to and I pray that God will bless all of you through it. I believe this is one of the beginning steps of God teaching me to live for others, not myself.
