My Heart’s Cry 100th Blog

I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to start a blog. I bet you didn’t either. But here we are, 100 blogs later, and this is the story of how it happened. My writing days started with a journal. I read an article about journaling in Victoria Magazine when my second child was an infant. It appealed to my heart because time was going by too fast and I wanted to slow it down by capturing my thoughts and feelings. Those journal entries went from once a month to once a week pretty quickly. But I’m so glad I started. Starting is important even if it’s a small start.

The next phase of writing spanned a decade or so. I wrote about what God was teaching me or a about a special occasion in my family. Homeschooling two very active boys took a lot of my time. Even though these journal entries were only a couple times a year, I am thankful because through writing I have preserved some important thoughts from when I was in my thirties.

At some point, a shift happened that caused me to write daily. I changed the focus on my journaling time from writing about what God was doing in my life to writing to God. Putting my prayers in writing was life changing. I know God always hears my prayers in whatever form they are sent, but for me to write them just seemed more concrete. My mind often wanders during prayer. When I write my prayers, I know exactly where I left off. Then I can start again with no guilt. I also have space to write down what I hear from Him. Bible verses, wise words and sweet songs fill the pages of my journal in response to the prayers I pray. This has changed from my first journal, which I’d classify as “me time.” Progressing to “we time” then progressing to “time with God.”

One day after 7 years of writing these daily prayers to God, He suggested the idea of starting a blog. I joyfully said “no” to God! Yes, you heard me right, I said “no” to God. “I am not a blogger” was my response. I was wrestling with Him about this idea. He said I could share some of my prayers with others or rewrite what I had written in my journal for others to read and be encouraged. So in November of 2017 I published my first blog post. Ta-da!

I started off with a rigorous goal of 2 posts a week. I invited about fifteen people to follow via email. I also posted on my personal wall on Facebook. Facebook was where my “friends” were, so most of the views were coming from there. This was a time of learning for me. I was settling into my writing groove. But then I had to stop for health reasons. A year later, I resumed a modest pace of 2-3 posts per month. During this time I worked on branding and sponsoring posts through Facebook. I made a “My Heart’s Cry” page on Facebook since they had changed how you could post from WordPress sometime during my sick leave year.

Facebook is a weird platform. For the many times I sponsored a post of my a blog or sponsored my blogging page, I don’t think I got anything of lasting value by doing that. I would get a lot of likes when the ad ran, but then no real value in the long run. I think it is set up so you keep paying. But I didn’t want to pay because I began seeing what they were funding and it made me quite upset. Months later I decided to phase out of posting my blogs on Facebook all together. You can read about it on Easing off Social Media.

Currently I post my blogs on WordPress and it goes out via email. I am very happy about this decision. WordPress doesn’t censor so I don’t have to write my blogs in a way to avoid censorship. WordPress Reader is a warm community of readers and writers worldwide.

My top blogs:
What are you looking at?
The Homeschool Option
I’m so done
Why You Haven’t Seen Me.
Changing Priorities

Writing has been a journey for me and it’s not over. It is something I can do in my later years. I am working on a book right now on being a Joyful Homemaker. Before Covid and my health crisis, I was teaching Housewife Classes. I wanted to get my lessons into a book format so that is what I’m working on. I taught sewing too. I wrote a blog about it in Teaching sewing classes at Hobby Lobby. In my sewing classes I like to share a devotional using some sort of sewing illustration. My blog My Rags is one that talks about what God can do with our remnants. We always want something new, but God can use what we have already and make something beautiful and useful out of it.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for giving me the desire to write. It is something I have that I can glorify You with. I ask You to help me be faithful in creating content that encourages readers in their relationship with You. I pray that as I blog about my relationship with You that others will want a relationship with You too. As I celebrate this 100th blog post, I want to thank You for giving me the idea. It has been fun, challenging and has caused me to grow as a writer. I hope my writing continues to be a blessing to others. In Jesus name, Amen.

Thank you to all my readers for your likes, comments and emails. I am encouraged to know you are reading, listening, thinking and praying.

Have a wonderful week and keep growing in your friendship with God!

Kim