October on my Blog

Another month has come and gone.  What has happened around here?

Top 3 posts of October:

1. "About You" By Dick Staub - This was the clear winner, receiving nearly 1/5th of my site hits for this month.  Not only that, but they all came in like 2 days... I suspect someone with a much more popular site linked to me, but couldn't figure out who. 

2. Encouragement - the first of a 3 part series (yes, only 2 have been posted so far; one has been in my mind for a few weeks now; I just need to get to it). 

3. Q13: Growing Up - I guess people like to hear childhood stories, and think about maturing in life; I know I do.  

In the past month I posted 11 times, and I have learned something about myself (that's your cue that what follows is highly introspective; you are invited in, obviously, since I am posting this, but that is what you are getting in to).  

How often I post, and how much work I put into posting, is directly correlated to two things: when I am preaching a sermon, and how much I have been reading.  I think that, on the one hand, what is going on is that I have a limited amount of creative energy, but have rarely reached that limit before.  As a regular part of my job I am writing/creating Sunday school curriculum, bible studies, prayer meeting devotionals, and discussion questions.  Then, every once and a while (3 times in Oct. though) I also have to write a sermon.  This last is by far the most draining exercise in that list, though also the most rewarding.  Thus 6 of the 11 posts were done in the same week; the week I was not writing a sermon.  

On the other hand, I also have a limited number of ideas, and these are stimulated by reading; so the more I read, the more stuff I have to post.  Shockingly, the more I have to do, the less I read.  All forms of creative output cannot, for me, be limited to 'work hours.'  I can't help thinking about them at other times.  Sermons are the worst for this, because not only am I constantly writing and re-writing, I am also constantly rehearsing, all in my head.  So, even if I do get to read, I read slower, and I read with my sermon in mind.  

All that said, I don't mind.  The opportunity to preach is a privilege and a blessing I greatly enjoy.  I learn so much and grow so much from being able to preach, not least of all because the first person I preach to is myself.  

That's what I learned from blogging this month.