HOW I GOT STARTED BLOGGING

Blogging.

Some people take to it like a duck takes to water.

Me?

Not so much.

In fact, I would call myself a most reluctant blogger.

At least in the beginning.

It's kind of an interesting story.  

Would you like to hear it?


In 2010 I decided to take a class on speaking.

A woman who used to be in my Bible Study group was teaching it.  She had a lot of experience in speaking – at conferences, retreats, ladies' groups, luncheons, etc.

Actually, I had never even considered taking the class until my Bible Study leader, a good friend, suggested it.

Well, more than suggested it.

She said, "God told me to tell you to take the class."

I believe that God talks to us, bubbles up His thoughts in our spirits.

And so, I believe that He did indeed lay this message upon her heart.

However, I wasn't quite so sure that He was speaking the same message to me!

So I used the proper *Christian* response when we don't really want to do something – "I'll pray about it."

But here's the thing.

The more I prayed about it, the more I started hearing the same thing!

Which was crazy!!

You see, I remember the 12 weeks our group had spent listening to this woman's "speaking class travails."  She cried, she was nervous, she felt inadequate, she felt overwhelmed.  Every week she asked us to pray for her as she prepared for the class, as she wrote another speech.

And then she would report to us how difficult it was to be critiqued.

Well, with this enthusiastic endorsement of the class, who wouldn't be eager to sign up?!

Me.

But, I kept hearing the Lord telling me He wanted me to do it.

And so, I did.

Yes, the whole experience was really difficult.  I also cried, felt nervous, inadequate, and overwhelmed.  I also found it emotionally excruciating to be critiqued.  And I asked for prayer every week.

In the end, though, God gave me a life-changing experience through the process.

And this speaking class was the springboard into blogging.

Here's the story on that…


About halfway through the class, our teacher told us about a Writer's Conference that was being held at a local church.  She highly recommended that we attend, as good writing is a crucial step toward good speaking.

One of the other ladies in the class and I decided to go.

We were so excited.

The morning of the conference, we got all dressed up in what we thought made us look like *real* writers.  We brought all our important note-taking stuff.  We practiced serious faces.

We loved the initial mix-and-mingle buzz in the room.

Then, just before the keynote speaker's presentation, my friend went to the restroom.

And promptly came back with another woman in tow.  (I think we women have a knack for making instant personal friends anywhere!!)

"Look who I met!  This woman goes to my church, and she's going to join us!"

Well, that was fine with me.

And so, the three of us immediately became fast friends.

Later that afternoon, there were breakout sessions – individual seminars on all sorts of topics.  My two friends decided to go to the one that was all about blogging.

Nothing was less interesting to me than blogging.

I was and am not a social media girl.

At the time, I did not even own an updated cell phone.

And even the word *blog* bugged me to death – I couldn't even say the word without a "teenage valley girl" inflection in my voice:

"Hi, I'm Sharon.  I, um, like, live in Southern California.  I totally love walking on the beach, like, it's awesome.  I'm a Taurus, like, that means I'm ornery, whatever that means.  Hee, hee.  Oh yeah, and I, um, I blog.  Ciao!"

So I politely told my friends that I couldn't care less about blogging, it had zero appeal to me, and I'd catch up to them later.

That's when I went off by myself and had a good ol' meltdown.

I talked to my husband.  

I talked to my sons.  

And I finally talked to God.

I told Him how lost I felt, like I had no purpose.  I told Him how I didn't feel like I was good at anything.  The speaking class was terribly hard, and I wasn't doing anything with my writing either.

I told Him how useless I felt.

No thunderbolts.  No whirlwind.  No burning bush.  

No startling revelations.

But, I did feel a nudge.

"Go join your friends."

I wasted some more time, because I did not want to go hear anything about stupid blogging, Lord, thank you very much.

But, considering the fact that passersby were beginning to look at me weird, I decided to gather myself and move on.

Because, after all, who wants to see a sobbing woman in the lobby at a Writer's Conference??  ("Wow.  That must have been a tough rejection letter…")

I (reluctantly, unwillingly, grudgingly) joined my friends just in time for the tail end of the blogging seminar.  But, instead of listening, I doodled and sniffled and muttered under my breath...

"This is so NOT me."


A couple of months later, my friend – the crazy extrovert who makes lifelong friends in the bathroom – had started her own blog, and was applying lots of fervent pressure on me to do the same.

Finally, I allowed her to open an account for me.

"You've got to pick a name for your blog," she gushed.  "Something fun and catchy."

Fun and catchy.  

Not exactly my forte.

But I finally came up with something I liked…

Sharon Sharing God.

I thought of it because if I was going to attempt blogging, it was going to be all about God!  This was my whole desire – to serve Him in my writing and in my life.  And I liked the little wordplay of sound-alike "Sharon Sharing."

Who could have known that six long years later, I would be the only person still blogging?!

Well, God did.

The irony does not escape me.

Me, the most reluctant blogger, still at it and still enjoying it!

Blog Land is where I belong.

I have found it to be a place of comfort and inspiration.  A place to connect and make real friends.  A place for God to use His words through me to help others.

A place to wrestle with my own faith, and an avenue to encourage others in theirs.

My blogging has evolved.

I can see how my writing has changed.  How my format has changed.  How God has developed something that I am truly blessed by.  (If you're interested, my first blog post can be found here).

And, after all is said and done, God has taught me a thing or two through this blogging journey!!


1.  Be careful what you say *no* to!

God has a sense of humor.  I'm convinced of it.  And He is at His funniest when He brings to our lives the very last thing we want.  Not troubles or trials, but opportunities that we think we will *never* do.  It is much better to really and truly pray about these things, for they just may be the very moment that God has planned for us all along.


2.  Listen to your friends.

There are times when our friends are invaluable conduits for what God wants to say to us.  They can encourage and cajole us, prod and coax us, counsel and advise us.  And sometimes, they really do hear from the Lord, and can speak a message into our lives.  Sometimes they can be wrong – but if they're saying the same thing that the Holy Spirit has been niggling you about, well, I'd pay attention!


3.  Sometimes God knows us better than we know ourselves.

Sometimes we may think that we'd never be good at something, it just isn't "our thing."  But, God knows our hearts, and He knows how He made us.  And the very thing we don't consider as a possibility may be just the thing that allows us to blossom in our faith.  God wants to use our unique talents and abilities, and He knows best what they are.  He knows the shape and color of our threads.  Let's trust Him to weave us into the place that we belong.


4.  God likes to take us out of our comfort zones.

Growth happens when we are stretched.  When we reach a point where we cannot do something on our own.  God loves to step into those moments.  He often opens opportunities for us that make us feel inadequate or unprepared for.  This is when He shines!  He delights in giving us strength in our weakness, power in our feebleness, and comfort when we're out of our comfort zones.


5.  God delights in showing us His purposes.

I marvel at the fact that if I had kept saying no to God's invitation into blogging, I would never have discovered some of His purpose for me.  God wanted me to write, and He knew how much it would fulfill me, while at the same time fulfilling His purpose for me.  If you truly want to serve the Lord, be ready for Him to show you what that looks like.  And be willing to venture forth, even if it doesn't look like what you thought it would look like!  God has given each of us spiritual gifts, and He enjoys revealing them to us and through us to others.  And no one cheers louder than Him when we use them for His glory!


So, there you have it – my blogging autobiography.

It's been quite a journey.

A journey I never expected taking in the first place.

But God…

God had an idea.

He had something He wanted me to do.  

And He found a way to get me to do it.


Sharon Sharing God.

I can still hear Him chuckling…



How did you start blogging?

I write because the words
burst forth from
within me.

And God is faithful
to keep filling me
with
His words. 

SSG Blog Trivia: I usually tell people that I have an online devotional.  I guess I still haven't made peace with the word *blog* – though I have coined this tagline – which you'll see at the end of all my blog posts:

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

Fun and catchy, huh?!



"Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made." (Isaiah 43:7, NASB)

"For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)

"For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn." (Romans 11:29, NLT)

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." 
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6, NIV)

"As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.  Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do…" (Ephesians 6:6-8, NLT)

"Therefore I…beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God." (Ephesians 4:1, NLT)

"…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13, NIV)

"…may he equip you with all you need for doing his will.  May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him.  All glory to him forever and ever!  Amen." (Hebrews 13:21, NLT)

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14, NIV)

"…my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." (Acts 20:24, NLT)

"The master was full of praise.  'Well done, my good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful…'" (Matthew 25:21, NLT)



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BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"