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,

 

 

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