How the Lord got me Started! by Bobbi Junior

Blogging. Oh my. Although I’d been hearing for ages that any writer who wanted to move forward in the New World needed to blog, it wasn’t for me.

Being 60+ years of age, my brain is hard-wired for pen and paper. I made the transition to computers, software, downloading, and e-mailing while my brain could still adjust, but now, each new cyber-update leaves me trembling. Blogging seemed beyond my reach, and I rejected the idea without further consideration.

However, God will have his way! 

September 2012 found me at my first Inscribe conference in Wetaskiwin. The message was inescapable, as now I was hearing it from these speakers as well: “Go forth and blog!” 

Driving home I nurtured my resistant mindset: “No way. I don’t have the skills. I don’t have the interest. This isn’t for me.” 

I neglected to consider the Lord might have a different opinion. 

As I pulled into the city I had a sudden revelation. My daughter and son-in-law run a website design company. Surely they could set me up. (Seriously! I had such a mental block to blogging, it had never occurred to me I had the perfect resource at my beck and call.)

The kids were thrilled to set me up. An afternoon sitting with my son-in-law and I was ready to go. My plan was simple. If I was going to do this, I would be disciplined. I would ask God’s direction in each article, and I would post every Saturday. 

How to get the word out that this new blog existed? Another simple strategy. Once I published my Saturday blog, I would copy the link and post it on my Facebook page. Now, at least a few people were able to be aware.

I remember the first time I received notification that someone had commented. WOW! How exciting! A friend had shared some kind words.

Slowly, more notable progress occurred. 

• Someone pulled a quote out of my blog and posted it on THEIR Facebook wall.
• Someone I didn’t know commented on one of my posts. He didn’t like what I’d said, but that was fine! I was thrilled.
• Someone linked my website in their blog post.

After 10 months I have just 9 subscribers. Readership is another matter. The link I post on Facebook each week will quickly draw interest, especially if the title intrigues people. Some weeks I’ve had as many as 95 readers on a particularly sensitive topic. Other weeks, 10.

Recently I was asked to speak for a local organization. When several asked for copies of my talk, I posted it on my blog. I put the link on Facebook, and e-mailed it to those in the organization. They in turn posted the link in their newsletter. Suddenly my blog profile is growing. 

I don’t know where the Lord will take this, but for me, it’s one more step as he draws me out of my solitary writing mode and into the cyber world.

Are you considering blogging? My recommendation is to pray about it with an open mind. You may be as surprised me as the Lord has gently moved me to this new cyber-experience.

While Bobbi has been writing for several decades, sharing her words in a public forum is relatively new.  In 2011 her mother's progression into dementia could no longer be ignored. One day she demanded, "Someone needs to write about this!" Bobbi began to share snippets of her mother's story in a blog, and is now documenting her mother's journey in a manuscript: The Reluctant Caregiver.  www.bobbijunior.com