It all started when Ashleigh told me I should go to the Relevant conference.
I went to the website. I looked a the list of speakers. And I wanted to be there.
Of course, there was no way it was feasible, with our family business and my babies–not to mention the fact that I don’t like going anywhere without my hubby.
But I kept drooling over the speaker list. Thinking perhaps they would podcast it or let us buy session CD’s.
Then I started laughing at myself. You don’t even read these ladies’ blogs, Gretchen. Why should you go hear them in person when you haven’t even taken the time to read what they write? How can you need so badly to learn from them when you don’t even know what they’re blogging?
So I started clicking their links. I got to know more than just their bios. I read their words, saw their smiles, heard their hearts.
I found a couple that I wanted to get to know better. I saw a few that I wanted to keep reading. I put a few in my Favorites. I even added a few to my Google Reader list.
In the process, my Google Reader list began to overflow. I did not always get it all read. I had to skim. I had to read the first sentence and then decide I didn’t need to take the time to read the whole thing.
I trimmed a few. The ones I always skimmed. The ones that did not uplift or encourage. The ones that did not point me onward and upward, “further up and further in.”
I also gave myself permission to skim the ones that were left. Because I did want to see what they were writing. (And the way my internet “connection” is, the only feasible way is to have them in my Google Reader. If they aren’t there, I guarantee you, they won’t get seen.) But now I make the choice to read the entry or skip to the one below it.
And still, it’s the people I know, the people I have a closer connection with, that I read more carefully. It’s people like my cousin Jennifer and my little sister whose every word I want to read.
Because honestly, when I start clicking around in the bloggy world, I quite quickly begin to feel incredibly overwhelmed. And very, very small. (And yes, all those extraneous adjectives and adverbs were necessarily appropriate.)
I think, why do I even try to blog when there are so many more amazingly talented and gifted authors with so much more traffic and so many more spiffy blogs out there? I start envying their layout and design. Coveting their traffic. Being jealous of their skill with words.
But then I remember why I started blogging in the first place. To remember all the details, big and small, of life here in this little pink house. The smiles, the sayings, the sweetness of our little girls. The things I adore about my man. The way he takes such incredibly good care of this girl. The way our God is faithful time and time again.
“Recorded here more for me than for you,” I say in my blog description. Am I really writing like I mean that?
Yes, income from clicks and traffic is nice. And someday I’m hoping it will be enough to fund part of an ISP bill so we can actually have a normal internet connection.
But that’s not why I’m writing. Or, at least, I don’t want it to be.
And just like when I find myself prioritizing, I’m always grateful when others others returning to the blogosphere, those who find themselves too busy to blog, or those who are constantly examining why they blog, remind me of what it’s all about.
Because you and I both know that Mommy time pays much greater dividends in our homes than blogging time ever will.
So in some ways, I s’pose, it’s good for me to click around in the blog world once in a while. To remember how small I am. To learn from others. To have someone else remind me of the joy of homemaking. To make new friends. To have someone else point me to Jesus. To find a bright spot to which to return. To purpose to point others to Jesus.
And while I want to ask you to share the links of your favorite blogs, I also want to make sure you take another look at my pink links page. I decided that if, for me, the blogosphere was all about a personal connection, it might be that way for you, too. So instead of just a long list of links (with a whole bunch of new ones this week!), I’ve added introductions to my links page so you can get to know my friends and those I follow.
But now, tell me, what is a blog you read that you think I would like to read as well? And then, for the fun of it, tell me what blog you’ll always read even if you don’t get anything else in your Google Reader looked at?
P.S. Even though I know it won’t make or break my blogging career if I never get to a blogging conference, I’d still like to recommend that someone host a blogging conference in the northwest. And as long as I’m asking, please make it in the winter, so my farmer husband can come and hang out with all the other husbands of bloggers who will be there (since their wives can’t bear to be apart from them either). In fact, the husbands might want a track all their own—you know, something about “How to Understand the Female Blogger: Getting Beyond ‘Julie & Julia‘.”
First of all, Gretchen – I’ve been following your blog for months now, but never commented! LOL. Anyway, I love your blog! I also love your courtship story… beautiful! and of course, I love YLCF! What an encouragement… thank you so much!
A blog I would recommend? Well, I think I would definitely recommend these 4:
my Aunt Jill’s blog: http://www.forevernevernalways1.blogspot.com
My awesome friend Lexi’s blog:
http://www.choosingtowait.blogspot.com
Camden’s blog: http://countercultural-blog.blogspot.com/
and my friend Heather’s blog: http://www.becomingahopefulromantic.blogspot.com (you would really enjoy her post titled “Mirror Mirror on the Wall – What Happened to Barbie?”
Blessings! Enjoy the blogs…
In His love,
Charity
Isaiah 40:26-31
Hi! I came over cause a link showed up in my comments, so I had to come see what it was all about. And I totally understand your post. I think we all get overwhelmed at times with how incredibly HUGE the blog world is & even if we are well known to a few, there is still a big blogworld out there who has no clue who we are. And that’s OK! Keep doing what you are doing & it will all be good. And I really don’t think it’s necessary to go to a blog conference to be a great blogger at all.
I love you for this. Well, a million other reasons, too, but this is one of them. Your priorities are exactly what they need to be, and you’re balancing your beautiful life just as you should be. But we all know that balance means constantly shifting to keep balanced, and I love watching you do just that.
I love this too! It is something I think of often- why do I write, and even more so why do I read. I can’t say I’ve read a whole lot of late, besides the journals of the people I know and love already, but this– and some of the things Ash has talked about relationships lately– have been on my mind a lot. Wanting to write and talk more about it on LJ, but we’ll see if time permits.
As a general rule, I always read posts by real-life friends who I don’t get to keep up with any other way right now. If I have time and need some inspiration, I turn to my photo blogs, recipe blogs (which have pretty pictures and lots of ideas when my brain can’t be creative for meal times) and a few other places which give it short and sweet but lift my heart up to thank Him for all those little things that bless every day of my life.
After that, I’ll look into the blogs of a few other people I don’t know so well, but who write things that challenge me.
Lately, it’s been few and far between that I’ve read more than my “real” friends’ blogs, and that’s okay. After all, God, family and “real” friends are the first things in life, the rest can wait.
I can totally relate–I read blogs for the personal aspect. Even if it someone I don’t know, I enjoy getting to know them more, as well as picking up tips for homemaking, cooking, etc.
My favorite blogs right now (other than friends and family) would be Passionate Homemaking and A Baker’s Dozen. I’m also partial to The Little Pink House and Just For Married Ladies.
Girl Talk and Molly Piper’s blog round out the favorites.
URLS, which I so brainlessly forgot to include:
PH: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/
A Baker’s Dozen: http://bakersdozen.typepad.com/
Girl Talk: http://www.girltalkhome.com/
Molly Piper: http://mollypiper.com/
Hey, Gretchen! I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. I think my favorites would be yours, Ashleigh’s, moneysavingmom, girltalk, and I also really enjoy resolved2worship on xanga. I like blogs that challenge and encourage me in my season of life- a stay at home mommy to three little ones. Thank you for your encouragement.
Your blog is great!
)
I would recommend resolved2worship.xanga.com too! So encouraging and wonderful!
Blogs I read regularly? Your’s and Lanier’s! Every word! And two piano related blogs. But, as Chantel said, I think family, friends and real life come first. So I think also you need not to go to a blogging conference now – you have a great blog, you created the marvelous YLCF, and your are blessed with adorable girls who need you right now! You can still go to a conference in another season in your life.
Thanks also for the introductions to your links! I am glad I found out who did your wonderful bridesmaids dresses!
Thanks for all your inspiration and encouragement!
Gretchen, I can totally relate to this. I have probably hundreds of posts in my google reader that I haven’t read and probably never will read.
That said, here’s one of my favorites (and one of the very few that I actually will read every single post) that I think you will also love:
raisingolives.com – a homeschooling mother of 10 children. Her posts are a wealth of practical wisdom. Down to earth. Real. And so wise!
I love your blog and YLCF. My eldest sister used to get your magazine years ago. My sisters always told me that scarcely a day passed without checking YCLF. A year or two ago I joined the crew of faithful readers. Often though I’d wonder what was the latest with Gretchen and wish you’d post on YLCF. Then I was showed this.
Apart from this blog, one I always read above all others is: loftystudios.blogspot.com. I don’t know Sean, (my sister has met him though,) but I read it because I’m always inspired to re-focus my goal on Heaven. And because I share my blog, I always check it often too.
P.S. I love the pictures of you and your family. I love the little girls. I wish my sister would have a girl… I have three nephew. But I love them of course. Oh, and you have a beautiful sister!