Posts Tagged ‘So Far’

12 Mar

So Far: My Second Blogiversary

Posted by Jennifer Clark Tinker in Community, Vocation. Tagged: , , , , .

2Blogiversary

 

Today marks the completion of another full year of blogging; it is my second blogiversary!

I’ve been at this for two whole years! It’s hard to believe that much time has gone by since I decided to take myself seriously as a writer. And a lot has happened over these two years.

Like any 2-year-old, though, I think my blog is still deciding what it wants to be when it grows up. But being the 39-year-old that I am, I feel like I should have this figured out better by now.

The truth is, the blog has played an important role in helping me get started as a writer. And that has been lovely–for me.

What I have struggled with over these two years is figuring out what it is about this blog that is of value to y’all, my dear readers. I may be breaking some blogging taboo by sharing that concern here on the blog, but it is the elephant in the middle of the blogging room for me.

So, I’m naming the elephant: I don’t know what I’m doing here.

However, I would like to have a third, fourth, and even a seventeenth anniversary of the blog eventually. So, I’d love to hear from you…

1. What has/have been your favorite post/s so far?

2. What do you appreciate most about this site?

3. What do you wish there was more of here?

4. What else can you tell me about what this blog means to you?

You can comment below or send me an e-mail at livingfaithjct (at) gmail (dot) com

As always, thanks for journeying with me in this.

12 Mar

So Far: My First Blogiversary

Posted by Jennifer Clark Tinker in Inspiration, Vocation. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

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I can’t believe that it has already been a year since I started blogging here at Living Faith! What’s even more astounding is how many folks have come along for the adventure!

I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I started my blog. I never could have guessed where it would bring me in one short year, but I’m sure glad I’m here!

At first when I seriously considered starting a blog it was for the sake of staying connected with people after they hear me speak. As a “freelance” speaker & preacher I meet people in various locations and I wanted a way to maintain a presence in people’s lives after the speaking events or worship services.

But once I started the blog, then it began to take on a life of its own and I’ve done relatively little speaking & preaching compared to what I had hoped. So the blog itself became an entry-point for connections.

And then there were more and more connections through the blog!

Even people from my small town, people from my own church began getting to know me more deeply on the blog before hearing much from me live and in person or up front from a pulpit.

And then the other opportunities started coming along, some highlights of which were joining the staff at Life & Liberty, and getting my first real writing contract! Then a bunch of preaching and speaking opportunities came all at once in December which was cool.

My depression–which kept me from writing for so long–has tried to hold me back even since I started this blog. It has been particularly bad since December. I am getting help though, so that’s a good thing. And I am not letting it stop me from writing!

The biggest way I am combatting the depression is by trying to get more and more clarity about what I want to do with the blog and with my writing in general. I figure if this blogging & writing stuff is taking off for me, I want to be crystal clear about my purpose in it all.

I am particularly excited about the new series about “Receiving Others as Gifts” that I announced last Friday. It is exactly the kind of thing I need to be about with my writing and fits beautifully with my life message. I hope you will follow that series each week and let me know how it resonates with you.

This is for keeps now people. I am really, really, really doing this writing thing, and I look forward to many more blogiversaries! Thanks for being with me in this!

14 Feb

So Far: 100 Posts -plus- Seven Things I Would Do 100 Times

Posted by Jennifer Clark Tinker in Community, Vocation. Tagged: , , .

So, I’ve been sick this week and got to today and realized it’s blog day–Friday is my day that I post something original here whether I feel like it or not. But my head is so cloudy that I didn’t know what I was going to write about. But then, I noticed that I have published 99 posts and this would be my 100th!

So, In honor my 100th post, I’m going to share some other things I would do 100 (or more) times:

  1. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario: This is my all-time favorite vacation place. I would go there 100 times if I could. My husband and I learned of a lovely cottage there by referral from my mother. We haven’t been there in years, but I’d love to go back time after time after time.
  2. Doodling my name: I love all forms of handwriting and handlettering. I could sit and doodle my name over and over 100 times in different styles and scripts.
  3. Carmine Park: There is a little park in the middle of my small town in Texas. It has natural interest, with a creek running through it and a lovely valley at one end, but it also has lots of great play equipment. I like to take my son there to blow off steam. Sometimes I play with him, but sometimes I take a notebook and sit and write. I could go there 100s of times.
  4. The library: I love to go to the library–sometimes to get books, but sometimes just as a quiet place to study or write. My son likes to go there too. It’s especially great to go there when the weather makes outdoor play unpleasant so we don’t go stir-crazy. I could go to a local library 100s of times and enjoy it every time.
  5. Pedicures: I haven’t had one in months, and I think I’ve only done it half a dozen times, but I would get a 100 pedicures if I had the chance! What’s really interesting too is that my favorite pedicurist told me that it was her favorite part of her job, I just loved going to her.
  6. Frozen: Okay, I have to say it. Frozen quickly became my all-time favorite movie. I know we joke about kids watching their Disney movies over and over and making us sick of them, but I personally could watch Frozen 100 times and not get sick of it. (To read more of my thoughts on the movie, try clicking these titles: Disney’s Frozen and the Misuse of Power, Disney’s Frozen and My Rant About the ‘Rents, and Disney’s Frozen and Using Power for Good.)
  7. How Great Thou Art: Somehow this one has become my favorite hymn and I love belting out all four verses (from memory) at the top of my voice. I could sing this one 100 times. I sometimes dream of recording myself singing it and then sharing it online, but I’m too chicken for that.

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Now it’s your turn! I’d love to hear from you: what are some things you would do 100 times if you could? Comment below or post to your own blog and be sure to give me a link. Or send me an e-mail at livingfaithjct (at) gmail (dot) com.

31 Dec

So Far: First Calendar Year

Posted by Jennifer Clark Tinker in Inspiration, Vocation. Tagged: , , , .

WritingSupplies

Despite the necessity for typing most of my writing on a computer, I prefer to start a writing project “old school,” writing longhand with a notepad and pen. This collection of supplies was from my son for Christmas.

This is the end of my first calendar year of blogging. As 2013 comes to a close I thought it would be fun to take a look back.

My 2013 started with a decision–that I’m doing this writing thing. I knew how to write, but wasn’t too sure about how to be “successful” with it.

I kept looking around at friends and people I admire gaining ground with their writing and I got so jealous. I started taking stock of what they were doing with their writing that I wasn’t with mine. And a couple things emerged as trends:

  1. They were writing–daily.
  2. They had blogs that they kept up with.

I know there’s more to writing than just these two things, but these were the glaringly obvious things that they were doing that I wasn’t.

So along with my decision to do this writing thing, in 2013 I started writing every day and I started this blog.

I’ve been all over the place in post frequency (though never less than weekly). And I’ve tried out various topics and styles of posts.

In a very real sense, I’m making this up as I go along. But the more I go along, somehow the more confidence I gain.

I never want to get too comfortable with my work because I always want to remain open to growth…yet the evil second-guessing that tries to hold me back has diminished significantly. The voices that try to tell me I’m no good and my thoughts don’t matter are more and more drowned out by the ever-increasing number of ideas of what else I need to say.

So, I am doing this writing thing and I can’t get enough of it!

Since no calendar-year-in-review post would be complete without some numbers & lists, I thought I’d share some of that here too.

  • The blog is averaging 577 visitors per month.
  • It’s averaging 1009 page views per month.
  • There have been a total of 10,096 page views on the blog.
  • The most page views on a single day was 416.
  • The most-viewed post has had 597 page views.
  • The blog has been viewed from 66 different countries.
  • Visitors have come from 6 different continents.

The top 10 most-viewed posts have been:

  1. Eat, Sleep Preach: A Deaconess in Depression
  2. Confessions of a Lutheran Charismatic
  3. Stuff You Learn After You Say “I do”
  4. Infertility Interrupted
  5. Why I Love Conferences Even Though I’m an Introvert
  6. The More Different We Are, The More We Need Each Other
  7. When “Christ vs. Culture” Met My Music Collection
  8. I’m Thrilled to Announce My First Podcast at “Life and Liberty”
  9. How I Became a Deaconess
  10. I Used to Go Barefoot

Thanks for coming on this journey with me and for helping make 2013 a great starting year for the blog!

20 Sep

So Far: Half a Year

Posted by Jennifer Clark Tinker in Inspiration. Tagged: , , , .

Hebrews 12:1-2

Half a year.

Six months.

That’s how long it has been since I started Living Faith. Considering how much gumption it took me to start this and how often I feel like quitting the whole thing, six months is a milestone worth marking. And yet, I feel I have only just begun.

That sense of “I’ve come so far, yet have so far to go” typifies how I feel about a lot of life.

  • I look back at how much I have learned and I’m pleased until I see another and another great book recommendation from a friend.
  • I’ve learned a lot about how to be a loving parent, but just the other day I found myself yelling at my kid.
  • I’ve grown in my confidence and willingness to put myself “out there,” but still second-guess a great deal of my work.
  • I have an ongoing spot on a friend’s podcast, but still have yet to do much about my “live” speaking ministry that I envision.
  • I have this blog with the tagline of “Living Faith,” and yet I often feel like I fall short in what I would hope for in my own life of faith.

But life is like that. Learning is like that. Parenting is like that. Confidence is like that. Dreams are like that. And faith is like that.

I pray that as I journey through life with our loving God I’ll be empowered through God’s spirit to live up to the example of Jesus.

But I know I won’t get it right all at once.

And so I pray for the humility to acknowledge the mistakes I’ve made and to repair the harm I’ve caused. I pray for the endurance to face the challenges that threaten to undo me. I pray for the courage to live into the vocation God has for my life and faith.

I pray these things for you as well. I don’t even know who all of my readers are anymore, but I think of you often. And I pray that your life–where you’ve come from and the where you’re going–will be strengthened in the love of God, bolstered by the fellowship of the body of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I hope and pray that in some way this corner of the internet can be part of your support along life’s way.

I’d love to hear from you about your comings and goings. What’s going on with your life & faith so far? Where do you see yourself headed? You can e-mail me at livingfaithjct(at)gmail(dot)com OR connect with me on Facebook or Twitter.

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