WOW! I got so many great responses about my previous post! I was very encouraged by what was shared. Just getting a "dialogue" of sorts going through the post made it feel more like a forum and less like I'm speaking into outer space. I'm realizing how important it is to the blogger to get comments and/or emails to create a dialogue. Of course, not every post needs a conversation about it. More than anything, I'm realizing my need to not use blogging as an efficient means of building relationships. (I'm so darn addicted to efficiency!! I hate that!)
This is the consensus on the topic: Blogging is great for a personal scrapbook to share with long distance family (as I have), to share interesting information (like recipes, books, sermons etc) or most importantly (from your responses) it encourages those who feel alone in what they're doing. Blogging is not so good for deepening relationships unless there is a give and take. Beware thinking that you have deep friendships with other bloggers just because you "are in the know" about what they are doing. There's no substitute for good 'ole fashioned visiting in the flesh. So I will continue to blog (so I don't start a riot) and I'll try better to call my friends and family or better yet, stop by for a visit! Let this be a formal invitation to those who have known me before this blog or through this blog, to stop by whenever you're in the neighborhood for a cup of tea on the back porch. We keep all our evenings free so we're available for whatever the Lord wants. Feel free to drop by and let your children run around the farm while we visit. I mean it!!
I also want to thank those of you who read my blog and faithfully comment. That is very good blog etiquette and it has encouraged me many times to keep this blog up. You know who you are!
4 comments:
Kristi,
Can't wait to take you up on the tea and kids-run-on-the-farm offer this September when we get back to Oregon!
And I'm so glad you blog -- I appreciate learning from you and feeling more up-to-date on the Knifong life :)!
Love in Him,
Julia
Kristi, I have been encouraged by this post and your previous post on blogging. I had stopped for awhile because I was putting to much pressure on myself. I have really enjoyed reading your blog and I will pray for Jamie Lyn.
Thanks for the invite to stop by and visit~ I actually am taking a trip to visit my mom up in the NW with my 4 yr. old son in June. I looked to see how close you are to her (based on info you put about Farmer's Markets in your area), but you are a train ride away and I'm not sure the timing will work.
I really had hoped to see if I could come by and meet you and see your life in action. We can learn so much from one another. It is so important to be teachable and find out how others do life. It can help us grow as women when we have open friendship and community.
God has given each one of us gifts and He intends for us to use them to do good works! In our Women's Ministry leaders study last night we covered the quality of "workers at home" in Titus 2. WOW! What a calling we have in our own homes. It is our base of ministry to do good works. One of the most important aspects is being available. Both to our families and to those in need!
Look at 1 Timothy 5:9-10, it talks of why a widow is put on the list...because she "has a reputation for good works, she has brought up children, shown hospitality to strangers, washed the saints' feet, assisted those in distress, has devoted herself to every good work." WOW! This is my mandate for being a young woman at home in the trenches! Thank you Lord for this amazing blessing of being a "worker at home."
Thank you Kristi for being a winsome example of a woman who has this same desire!
Hello again Kristi --
Going through Purpose Driven Life again with my bible study group and just read Ch 16 which is the part about LOVE is what matters most to God and that we show love through our relationships. It made me think of this conversation you had on blogging and how you were saying relationships are so important and blogging isn't necessarily the best two-way relationship builder. I'm hoping this chapter is an encouragement with you so here's a recap:
"Relationships must have priority in your life above everything else." Why?
1. Life without love is worthless: "No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." 1 Cor 13:3
2. Love will last forever: "Threse three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:13
3. We will be evaluated on our love: "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6
And, the best expression of love is TIME. 1 John 3:13 says "My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action."
Thank you again for all the wisdom and encouragement you provide in your blog -- you encourage me in my relationships with my family and are such a wonderful example of living out love in our lives.
:) -- Julia
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