The First 100

My last post marked my 100th since I launched this blog last fall. The number 100 has a certain appeal to it, I think. I always hoped to see a 100 on an assignment in school. I try to give one hundred percent in any task I take on or any game I play. I can still remember the first time I saw a $100 bill, when my Grandma Watson took me shopping to buy Christmas presents for my parents and brother. And, ever since FDR, the First 100 Days is seen as a bit of a trial period to see what a new president will be able to complete during that initial honeymoon period when (presumably) public approval of him is high and good will is still present in the Capitol.

So, it would seem amiss not to note the achievement of reaching my 100th post, and to reflect on what, if anything, I have accomplished in those posts.

First, I have to pause and ask myself if I am surprised that I made it this far. To be honest, the launch of this blog was sort of a whim. I had been reading some blog postings for a blog that one of our high school teachers was using to engage his students in thoughtful discussion through technology. It was their posts that got me to thinking about doing some blogging of my own. I had blogged before, but sparingly. And though I tend to have plenty of opinions and ideas, the possibility of typing them out on a regular basis is not something I had ever seriously considered. Any efforts I have made to journal over the years have fizzled in short order, and I suspected a blog might end up the same way. One major difference, I think, is that the blog is not for my own consumption. Others read it, and, frankly, it has been the feedback that I have received from those who have read it that has probably kept me going. I have ceased to be surprised at who might find this little corner of the web and take the time to read my musings.

Second, I have to pause and ask myself whether I have accomplished anything through the blog–or maybe a better question would be is accomplishing something necessary in order to continue? To answer the second question first, I think there needs to be more purpose in it than simply spouting off about current events, and I think I have succeeded in addressing current events but not doing so in an offensive or overly partisan manner, and not in such a way that would tend to turn this site into another political blog. (If you disagree, please feel free to comment and set me straight!) That does not mean that I have shied away from current events that I felt required addressing, nor will I do so in the future.

Third, though, I think I have learned through blogging that my own thoughts and experiences and, dare I say, insights, can be an encouragement and a blessing to others. Simply sharing what I have learned and am learning as I walk along the road of life can be a means of ministry. I think that blogging has proven to be an ideal venue for me to do this because I am more comfortable expressing myself in writing than in conversation in many instances. I am not as shy as I once was in interacting with others, but, for whatever reason, I rarely need conversation and I still tend to avoid small talk. If someone asks me a question I am happy to answer, and if I have something to say I will certainly say it, but I do not go out of my way to strike up a conversation very often. So for those of you who do interact with me “in real life” please don’t be offended by that! I do not intend to be standoffish or unapproachable, and I’m not mean (I promise!)…I just don’t feel the need to talk!

However, the Lord has revealed to me over the last fifteen to twenty years that things that I might not think are that important or that meaningful sometimes are to someone else, and therefore, if any erring is to be done, I should probably err on the side of sharing rather than not. I can still recall many a Sunday evening church service when the song leader or pastor would ask for people to share praises or testimonies, and many times that my mother would speak up and share something that had happened during the previous week and how the Lord had worked in the situation. It saddens me to say that there were quite a few times that I would sit in my pew thinking, “Who cares, Mom? Big deal!” I mean, compared to someone being delivered from a drug addiction or healed of a life-threatening illness, overcoming the challenge of a flat tire is really not that important, right? Well, wrong, I have learned. While there are dramatic and exciting instances like the drug addicts and cancer survivors–and those are important and valuable examples of the power and mercy of God–God does not only, or even usually, work in such big ways. God is in the details. He cares about the little things in life, and He does desire that we talk to Him about the flat tires of life. He can reveal Himself through those seemingly minor inconveniences–when we let Him and take the time to seek Him. I’m hard-headed, I guess, but I hope I have finally learned that my mom was right; sharing those testimonies are important, too. So if my comments on a book I read, a recent news story, a personal experience or a truth I have gleaned in my own walk can encourage you, praise God. I am humbled that people are reading and benefiting from my rambling.

And Lord willing, I’ll still be at it after another hundred entries….