Blogging is still new in our lives.The journey started as a “blogging for me” project in September 2018, after my fourth child was born, yet it never seemed to flourish throughout the first year. I had it all wrong. The project wasn’t meant for me but for YOU! Blogging for YOU is the goal and intention behind this digital wall. Let’s break this down.

Let’s narrow it down to a few pitfalls.

BUT WAIT!

Let me share real quick that my constant excuse making is a mentality that I’m trying to shed throughout this blogging experience and SHARE how I did it with others. Ok, rant over.

So pitfalls. Essentially, blogging for ME fell into the same category of everything else in my life – procrastination, perfectionism, and quite frankly, it felt selfish.

Blogging, or my web log, was meant to be a place to:

1. Share God’s truth
2. Provide a place of rest through a creative outlet during the years at home with four littles
3. Serve others with my spiritual gifts of faith, knowledge, truth, and teaching thus glorifying the Lord
4. And finally, technology tutorials! I aim to bridge the gap of digital literacy for those who feel “left behind” when it comes to screens and the new-everywhere -you-look-today software! 

[Disclaimer: IF Knitting Our Story eventually brings in some type of income I will be forever grateful but it was never and will never be the number one goal of this blog.]

Let’s breakdown the MYTHS [cough obstacles] that stood in the way followed by the TRUTHS that have reshaped my heart and the work that goes into BLOGGING for YOU.

MYTH #1:

IT HAD TO BE PERFECT.

The words had to be perfect. The website immaculate. The video tutorials had to be spot on because “hey, I am teaching people how to make videos so mine need to be top-notch”. However, this paralyzed my progress. It stopped me in my tracks. Constantly sitting down for hours with nothing to share because I couldn’t get off the train of perfectionism. I was going nowhere fast. 

No effort = no growth

I had a vision and mission in mind but was struggling to fully surrender it by placing it into God’s hands. 

Do you ever feel that conflict? 

“Here God you can have this decision, task, project or [insert whatever you are holding onto tightly].”

“Oh Wait GOD! Let me take it back from you and try to go it alone.” 

TRUTH:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 

in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

NOBODY is perfect outside of Jesus. NOTHING will ever be perfect! I had to stop putting on a show (for myself) that I had this “blogging” thing all figured out and STOP obsessing over the details. How would that serve YOU? How would my “faking it” help YOU? It won’t.

Proverbs even provided a road map on HOW to do this: 1. Trust God > 2. Lean not on my OWN understanding > 3. Submit to God > 4. He will make my paths straight

I do not have to fear anything because the LORD has my back! I can’t let the fear of “not measuring up” hold me back from doing His will. I will stumble upon this path of life and life will knock us down. Our recent life development has proven to us that we certainly are not in control of ANYTHING!

MYTH #2:

IT HAD TO BE SECULAR.

Hey, it is the internet so this blog needs to be applicable to everyone. It shouldn’t ruffle any feathers nor should it speak so boldly about my faith. The internal dialogue was saying…. Don’t share your struggles or areas of weakness. Do not stand on your convictions because someone will try to knock you down. 

The FEAR was debilitating. 

TRUTH:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” ~ Psalm 27:1

Again, another situation to place firmly into the hands of God.  I [extreme emphasis on “I”] was placing unwarranted pressure on myself to make this blog a business and ‘professional’ which undermines my WHY for starting this in the first place. 

If someone is offended then let me go ahead and say “I am sorry” here and now. Blogging is a sharing platform thus I am only sharing MY personal beliefs. You are welcome to yours and can visit other platforms that are more aligned to your personal beliefs. 

MYTH #3:

IT HAD TO BE CONSISTENT.

Ok, this one is trickier because I certainly do want a high performing blog therefore it needs to be consistent. However, in quantitative terms my ability to push out content is relative to what MY schedule will allow NOT SOMEBODY ELSE’S. 

The first two myths were fueling a desire to get up earlier than needed or stay up late [even all night sometimes] to create this ‘professional’ blog that brings in no revenue of any kind [as of 8/1/2019].

TRUTH:

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; 

yes, establish the work of our hands! ~ Psalm 90:17

Blogging is a process for me. It will take time to refine and master. Placing this task into the hands of the Lord means that HE will establish the work of my hands. 

HE will ESTABLISH the work of my hands. 

Choosing to blog was intentional. A platform to share and teach while also creating a task that will enforce more discipline and time management on my behalf. The Lord knows my heart and my nature he “knitted” me in the womb. He knows my weaknesses and strengths. He orders my steps.

So to create more consistency here there has to be more consistency in my daily life thus TIME MANAGEMENT > DISCIPLINE > PRODUCTIVITY are elements that will also have to adjust to this new project. It will benefit the entirety of my life! I love how the Lord orchestrates the simple things in our lives to create a grandeur end product than we could ever imagine.  

SO WHAT WHO CARES?:

What is the application of all of this?

We can create plans but the Lord will order those steps. He will also remove all fear and doubt when we LET Him establish the work of our hands. Trusting the Lord with my blogging journey from the beginning will allow it to always be in His will while also making it a joyful experience vs anxiety driven. 

So what are you holding onto today? What can  you give to God? What work of your hands has He established? Share with me how this helped or inspired you.