If you have followed my blog for some time, you know that I have sometimes had a gap of time in between posts. Let me tell you about this last one.

I enjoy writing. It is a way that I can process experiences and thoughts. It is also a way for me to keep record of the ways God has moved and worked, or things He has taught me. I have been an on again off again journaler. By putting much of my journaling into an electronic format I can have it almost anywhere I am, and I don’t have to recall which of the several journals I’ve started but not completed contain what I am looking for. So the bottom line is I began to blog because it was helpful to me.

Sometime along the line others began to read some of what I wrote and I began to get some encouraging comments. I am grateful for those, and they do truly encourage me (though I am not so naïve as to believe that everything I write people will agree with!). This has caused me to want to invest more time into writing, and to periodically pursue a contest or seminar to improve my skills.

That is all well and good, but it’s also where the not so good part crept in. I began to place my value on how many people liked or commented on a post. Furthermore, when a post I thought was one of my best received little to no readership or feedback I would get mopey and begin to beat myself up.

I played for a time in those murky waters, before God redirected my focus. If truly I was writing to record for myself (and anyone else who cared to read) about His faithfulness and goodness then why did likes and feedback from others matter?   Were the lessons still as valuable to me? Of course!

So I took a break from writing publically to adjust my attitude personally and spiritually. I think I am ready to be back on track now. This seems to be a theme of something God is teaching me in a variety of ways in recent months – through multiple Scriptures – to keep my eyes/focus on Him!

If you are blessed or encouraged by anything I write, I thank God for that. I would also ask you to pray for me, that in all I do and say, I keep my eyes on Jesus!