I didn't write a Thankgiving post yesterday. It seemed everyone was doing it and we were busy doing nothing anyway. We're in Lexington today for Thanksgiving Part Deux and I brought no belt with me in anticipation of the gluttony to come. By far, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday: family, feast and football. Quoting the immortal Brett Michaels [now linked to Thanksgiving time, in my mind at least]: ". . . and it don't get better than this. "
Anyway, it was three years ago today that I started Beit Carr. So on the threshold of my senior year of blogging, I thought I'd reevaluate my initial reluctancy to start the blog:
1. "I lack the passion to be a successful blogger." Apparently I was wrong about this. I've been able to sustain the blog, with 1,118 posts in 1,095 days. They say the key to a good blog is consistent posting and, so far, I've been able to keep it up.
2. "I don't type well." Honestly, I would say that this has been one of the biggest benefits of blogging. I type much better now than I did three years ago. I've been able to notice it as I work on papers for classes. I still tend to favor my right hand, but for someone who never took a typing class, I can put out a good amount of words in a respectable amount of time.
3. "I obsess over the words I use when I write." Again, I really think blogging has helped my usage of words. I'll still make the occasional error when I don't edit well but I have Kelly [and now Melissa] to let me know when I screwed up. With the blog and my sermons and my papers, I now produce a voluminous amount of words every week. This encourages me to expand my vocabulary and continually strive for creativity in what I write.
4. "My job constrains what I can say." I would say this is very much different as well. Echo has been the perfect church for me. I'm liberated to say what needs to be said, with a leadership that understands me and my motivation. About two to three times as many people read this blog than actually are a part of our church. So Beit Carr extends my influence. I still understand the responsibility that accompanies this medium but I no longer fret how something will be received.
So those of you who keep up on my life here on the blog: thanks. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it. I love my little corner of the interwebs and look forward to maintaining it for the years to come.