I’d like to take a break from my normal format today. I want to say hello. I want to say thank you for the time you have spent so far with this blog. I’m not sure who you all are, on the other side of these words, but I am grateful to you for coming back day after day.
I also want to tell you that this blogging business is harder than I thought it would be.
I have a list. Hundreds of evangelical terms and phrases. Theological. Cultural. Absurd. Deep. I thought, Oh won’t this be simple! I’ll just pick a word a day and write on it! I thought I can knock out one of these babies while the kids nap! While I am at the YMCA, after my run, before my shower, while I chill in the women’s locker room!
Wrong.
I have always been a slow writer. I think winding, slow thoughts. I write, erase, write erase. Since I started this project, I have had lots of late nights, alone in the living room with my computer while my family sleeps. I have had to really up my coffee dosage in the morning.
And it would all be fine, except I have this guy
—->, who is adorable, yes, but who is also in some kind of titanic growth spurt and has been waking up six times a night hungry and irritated with me for slogging so slowly into his room.
And I also have this guy <——–, who is 2 ½ and full of energy. He really likes to haul rocks around and play dinosaurs and race cars and trains on our kitchen floor. He asks me 600 times a day, “Mommy play with you?”
And finally, there’s this awesome guy here —–>, who is unfailingly supportive of my writing. And he would never say it, but I think he’s getting a little tired of his wife having her laptop open all the time.
So I’m taking a beat.
I’ll still be blogging regularly, but I’m cutting down, for now, to twice a week. You can expect to see new posts every Tuesday and Thursday instead of every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. (If you’re concerned that you might not remember, you can subscribe by email over in the sidebar, and new posts will just automatically come to your inbox.)
The internet, I’m finding, is a loud, busy place. There is so much going on. Someone is always saying something interesting, posting something I want to read. I feel like I am just dipping my toes into it. I am intrigued; I am a little afraid.
Please bear with me as I get my footing, as I try to figure out what it looks like to move generously and graciously around this virtual world.
I am grateful for you all. See you Tuesday.
Addie, I’m amazed you’ve been blogging as often as you have–puts me to total shame! I think twice a week is ambitious but great if you can manage it. Otherwise, I even think once once a week is satisfactory! Enjoying it so far! Be good to yourself….
I second the motion of support. I love the thoughtfulness of your writing, and that thoughtfulness takes time and reflection and processing. I think it’s a good move to periodically re-examine your goals and let us know what you decide. I’ll stick with you as you find your stride.
Thank you for the kind words and support. I don’t know how maintain multiple blogs. Seriously. You are an inspiration.
Thanks for the kind reminder Judy. Still the chronic overachiever I guess…
Hey, let’s all carry this blog ourselves! Addie has done us a favor of an unreasonable size. I bet we’ve all got a “term” we wish could be defined or disappear from the evangelical scene whether or not we are an evangelical! I’d love to redefine a couple…to get to the heart of a couple others…and to hear, especially, from those who’ve been injured by evangelicals when it would have been more life-giving had they just gotten a little better acquainted with who Jesus actually is.
I’ll bait the hook. Anybody want to share what first comes to mind when you hear the word “clergy”?
Thanks for giving it a shot, Neal. Clergy’s a hard one. My first image is not evangelical at all really, but Catholic. White collars, black leather Bibles, long-suffering looks on their faces…