What Christian Bloggers wish you knew.

Summer Sizzle is back with a bang!

 

My favorite thing about being part of the Summer Sizzle is that it seriously grabs a lot of attention! And I am not surprised that it does. We are literally sharing our top posts in front of a new audience every week with already published posts that are doing pretty ok on our own blogs. 

 

If you are a blogger, seriously consider creating a series of sharing your already written tops posts with some other bloggers you completely admire, trust, and have a good foundation with…..oh, but I do highly recommend doing it within the same niche. Sharing our posts together makes it a bit easier knowing that we are all Christian Bloggers.

We expect nothing else from each other but to share what will minister to each other’s audiences. 

 

Like this one for example. I am posting my heaven-sent endearing, graceful sister’s post about: “What Christian Bloggers wish you knew”. As someone that has a passion to speak to the Christian blogger heart; this is absolutely perfect to share on my blog. This post is probably my top favorite posts from Valerie. I truly believe you are going to love this!

 

After two years of marriage, you’re still considered a newlywed, but in the blogging world, two years seems more like a silver anniversary. I feel like I’ve been around longer than most of the people I meet, now.

 

I’m often surprised that “technically-challenged Valerie” is often the one who can give advice on some “How-Tos” of blogging. I read that over 90% of bloggers abandon their blogs after the first year.

 

According to 10 Blog Statistics of 2017, the average blog post takes 3 hours and 16 minutes to write. When you consider that the top-ranked posts in Google are between 1,140-1,285 words and that the median average time spent reading an article is 37 seconds and that 43% of readers skim blog posts, you can see why we sometimes wonder if the only people really reading our posts are other bloggers.

 

We publish words that feel vulnerable, hoping our stories will bring comfort to someone. We remind ourselves that we never know where our words are reaching or who reads them.

 

Often we are surprised that our Pinterest pin has reached another country or when we receive a comment from a thankful reader who has been ministered to. Those are the moments we remember our purpose in ministry and in doing what we love.

 

And that’s the thing. We love doing it.

 

So I want to share with you some of the struggles I’ve faced as a blogger. Not because I’m complaining, but because I/we need your prayers.

 

I believe the internet is a great way to share the Lord with so many people that would never otherwise have been reached. I believe the more Faith Bloggers out there, the more people we can reach with the gospel of Christ.

 

We May Have a Hard Time Calling Ourselves Writers

 

I had a hard time calling myself a “blogger.” It just felt strange to me. In fact, I’m not even sure I really care for the sound of the word.

 

I preferred calling myself a “writer”, but I couldn’t even say that out loud until last year. I went to a Christian writing conference and they had everyone look at the person next to them as if in an AA meeting and say, “I am a writer.” And then I realized I wasn’t alone.  Most of them had a hard time claiming the esteemed title of what they think a writer should be.

 

But I can finally say it now with confidence because I know I’m living out my purpose when I share the Lord through my writing. My favorite thing to say is,  “I’m a Hope Writer.” It’s also one of my favorite writing groups.

 

We May Struggle to Share Our Writing Ministry With Friends

 

When I started blogging, all I wanted to do was write. I wanted to share how the Lord has worked in my life and to help others. I feel like I communicate so much better through the written word than through speech.

 

But soon I learned that if I wanted to reach others with my message of hope, I needed to start a FB page, a Pinterest business account, and learn Twitter and Instagram. It was honestly so hard for me to put my posts out there because I didn’t want others (especially the people I knew) to think I was trying to “promote myself.”

 

 

 

But now I see that unless I share, the message won’t reach anybody. Sometimes when friends ask me what I’ve done that day and I share about my blog ministry, there’s this awkward silence. I’ve had to learn to let that go, deal with my own insecurity and not take it personally. Some people just don’t read blogs or maybe they don’t understand how it can be a ministry, and that’s ok.

 

We Haven’t Arrived

 

The most-viewed posts on Pinterest are lists and how-tos. Some of my most popular posts are How I Fight To Keep My Marriage Strong and How To Love Your Spouse Through The Busy Parenting Years. Some are lessons I’ve learned through some very difficult times. But the thing is, I am STILL learning them. I haven’t arrived at some lofty place where I have it all together and I can tell others the cure-all for marriage woes.

 

But, I can share with people important truths I’ve learned. I wrote a series called Mending Marriage Prayers. I believe with all my heart that prayer has helped mend the broken places in my marriage, but the thing is, prayer is STILL mending those places. And that’s ok. God doesn’t wait for us to have it all together before he can use us. Amen for that, right? Sometimes we succumb to that lie—that God wants us to have it all together first. But He uses the broken and the weak. He comforts us so that we can comfort others.

 

Satan Attacks Us in the Things We Write About

 

I have never felt the attacks of Satan as strongly as I do now that I am pressing publish on posts that share about Jesus. I’ve had technical difficulties happen one after the other when I’m about to share something I feel the Lord has laid on my heart. One time I wrote a post about having patience and had the worst week ever being patient with my kids.

 

Sometimes my marriage is attacked when I write about marriage. Usually, it happens right before I’m about to publish something and I feel like a hypocrite because I’m struggling in the very area I have just written about. I’ve talked to many Christian bloggers and found out they get attacked in the very issues they are writing about as well.

 

Keeping Up Our Blog Usually Costs us More Money Than We Make

 

There are a lot of posts out there on how to make money blogging. Although there are some wonderful Christian bloggers who are business-savvy and have managed to make a steady income, the truth is, most bloggers I know would be happy if they could just cover a portion of the cost of keeping up a blog.

 

That’s ok with me because my main goal and passion is to write as a ministry. But it is nice when an affiliate sale comes in and covers some of my blog upkeep.

 

We May Struggle With Unsubscribes

 

When I first started writing heartfelt posts and saw unsubscribes in my inbox I wondered what I was doing wrong. Deep down, an unsubscribe kind of feels like an unfriend on FB. I’ve talked to other bloggers who have struggled with this too. We all come to the point where we realize we only want readers who really want to be there. People lead busy lives and often don’t want their inbox flooded with emails, and we can all understand that. Sometimes we have to grow thick skin and remember to keep on keeping on.

 

We Love Our Readers

 

I’ve seen so many bloggers come so close to giving up their blog. That is, until they receive a comment from a reader who felt God led them to a specific post and it really helped them. It seems like God gives us that extra encouragement at just the right time. So if you read a post/email and it really ministers to you, don’t be shy about letting the blogger know in the comment section. It just may be the one comment that prevents them from giving up.

 

I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this post. It’s an honor and a privilege to share with you what I’m learning in my journey with Jesus with you.

 

 

Valerie Murray is a wife of 22 years and a busy mom to 4 energetic children. She writes at ValerieMurray.com about keeping faith and family strong through Christ. Her heart’s desire is to offer hope to others and declare the glory of God in her life through her writing. Her mission is to offer encouragement to struggling marriages, overwhelmed moms and people striving to face their fears and know their worth. Coffee, chocolate and a good movie always makes her happy! You can find her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Instagram & Google+.

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