I slid the cursor to the right and let it hover for a moment before I drew in a deep breath, then finally clicked publish.
It can be a scary thing to put your writing out there for the world to read.
Will people read it? Will they like it? Am I good enough? These are a few of the questions that plague the mind of a writer.
Although I have been blogging for over five years, there is still an amount of hesitation when I publish a post. Why? Simply put, I take this seriously. I write to encourage, share, and teach others as I study God’s word and grow to know Him better. That’s a big responsibility. Plus, it’s an honor and privilege to be invited into the lives of readers.
Words have power. The Bible tells us we will give an account for every idle word we speak. I think this applies to writing, too—possibly more.
As I started this blog, I was also taking classes and attending writers’ conferences to improve my skills. I was working on a novel with a dream of one day getting it published. Back in 2017 at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, I contacted my agent, Cyle Young. From there Cyle sent the proposal for my book to a list of publishers. When I received word that Elk Lake Publishing was interested in publishing my book, I was over the moon!
That first book entitled Secrets turned into the young adult SERIES Beauties from Ashes! I just published book 4 in September. What a joy it’s been to receive words of encouragement and Amazon reviews from readers. The books continue to remain on Amazon’s Bestsellers lists in several categories!
Glory to God! I still have to pinch myself 🙂
Speaking of the BFA series, I have great news. The first two books in the series will be on sale for Black Friday weekend.
Books make great gifts, by the way!
Oh, and these books aren’t just for teens. I have many adult readers! I also have book clubs that read the books and we meet on Zoom to discuss. It’s a blast! To find out more about the book clubs click HERE. To order the Beauties from Ashes books, click HERE.
As a published author, I still enjoy writing my blog because it continues to strengthen my faith.
How Blogging Has Strengthened My Faith
Teaching Means Learning Double
“To teach is to learn twice over.” ~Joseph Joubert
Every post requires research and study of scripture. Blogging has made me a better student of the word as I teach others what I have learned.
“Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.” Luke 6:40 NLT
I’m Accountable to My Readers
Research shows that putting a goal in writing along with sharing it with others increases our success by 85 percent. Since my major goal is learning and putting into practice scripture, blogging is a huge benefit to me in my spiritual growth.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” Hebrews 10:24 NLT
Support and Prayers from Others
I cannot express how grateful I am for the support of other writers and Christians. I’ve gained a large community of some wonderful encouragers and supporters whom I’ve also learned a great deal from.
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.” 1 Timothy 2:1 NLT
Trials—it’s not all Rainbows and Butterflies
Blogging means making myself more public, and with that have come some difficulties. I have also noticed an increase in spiritual warfare. These issues have occasionally made me want to put a halt to sharing with the world wide web, but I know God has used the trials to strengthen and grow me.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4 NLT
You don’t need to be a writer/blogger to benefit in the same ways I’ve listed above. All of us are called to teach, be accountable, support, and pray for others. In addition to these, the Bible states we will go through trials and tests in order to strengthen our faith.
God uses the many things we go through in our lives to draw us closer to Him—IF we will let Him.
“But Jesus replied, ‘My Father is always working, and so am I.’” John 5:17
Even though my heart still pounds just before hitting “post”, the pluses of blogging far outweigh the minuses because God uses the process to lead me closer to Him. And I have had the privilege of “meeting” YOU!
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Blessings!
Love,
When I get ready to post a blog, Beckie, I feel exactly the same way. Whew! We do take on much responsibility when we set out to encourage and inspire others in the name of Jesus, and I know I always pray that my words will speak His to someone in need of them. I will more than likely take advantage of your Black Friday sale as I’d like to give the entire set to my daughter, a grown-up reader, but not so old that she can’t recall her turbulent teen years. Thank you for using your gift of writing for God’s glory!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Martha, I’m blessed to be part of a community of other bloggers like you and many others.
I cannot wait to see what your daughter thinks of the Beauties from Ashes series.
Thanks for sharing, my friend.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I love this phrase Ms. Beckie; “… it’s an honor and privilege to be invited into the lives of readers.” What a perfect way to describe what it means to be a Christian blogger and writer. To know that we write can have such an impact on those who read it is a “scary” thing indeed. What if something I write/publish does more harm than good? What if I’m proven wrong in a belief or lack of understanding? All these things and more run through my mind regularly. And while I’ve been tempted to “crawl back into my “shell of solitude” and just focus on writing books, articles, devotionals, etc., I realize that my blogging does much more than increase my reading audience; it helps to make me a better “light writer.” God’s blessings ma’am; and thank you for the opportunity to learn from your blogs.
JD, It’s also an honor to be part of a community of other bloggers like you. I always enjoy reading your posts. I’ve learned applicable spiritual lessons from the ranch!
Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving!
Love this post Beckie! I have found that blogging enriches my faith. Instead of taking scripture and trying to fit it into my posts I’m trying to be more focused on taking what I’m reading and letting the Holy Spirit guide my writing from that. You’ve encouraged me to keep at it for sure. 😊
Emily, I agree about allowing the Holy Spirit to guide. So important!
Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
Beckie, The Lord has gifted you as a writer and allowed all your early experiences to instill in you a message of hope and deliverance to many. Your writing today seems to have the heart of God weaved throughout. Any previous pain has been exchanged into your purpose in desiring to help others along their Christian journey. So many times you have uplifted me with an exhorted word. I try to exchange the immense discouragement of the past into a passion to encourage others- and yes Beckie, indeed beauty for ashes! You are a beautiful person on the inside and out and may the Lord continue to use you in your future writings. I am sure the strategies you are gleaning from in your own warfare will too be helpful for others in their journey. From one writer to another, kudos and much love😀❤️🌹🌹💐🇱🇷📕📗📘📙📚📚📚🙏🙏🙏🙌🙌