I just passed my 2 year anniversary of starting my blog, Shadowing Enoch. You can read some of my blogging journey here. It has been a very interesting journey, and I am very glad I started it 2 years ago, but a lot has changed along the way. I started from scratch, never knowing anything about starting a website or blog, so the first few months were very much about learning the basics. I also tried to read a lot of information about how to promote yourself on social media and Pinterest, and that helped a lot in getting me started and understanding “blog world.”
Now, I believe firmly in letting God do the promoting most of all, so even though I was diligent in doing what was in my hands to do, ultimately, I know that it was in God’s timing and providence if I was going to be “successful” at blogging or not. Successful is definitely a relative term, and I am not counting ‘successful’ as in comparison to other bloggers, but meaning if I was growing at all as measured against myself.
The wonderful thing for me is that the answer to that question is yes. Every month I saw steady increases in my outreach, and in my statistics. This was just about knowing that I was on the right path, and that God was giving me encouragement to keep on going.
If I was trying to measure myself against other bloggers, well… that would probably discourage me a lot! But I recognized early on, that I was not in competition against any of my fellow bloggers, especially against other Faith Based bloggers. We all grow at our own pace, and I am just very happy to see steady and regular growth every month. God knows me very well, and this slow and steady growth is just right for me, not overwhelming me or scaring me, but encouraging me to keep taking the next step.
The most encouraging thing is this. The last 4 months has been a big change for me in my personal life due to a full time job opportunity that I took, with God’s very clear guidance. You can read about how I am working to find the balance with my new schedule here. My blogging has been put on the back burner a bit as I get adjusted to this intense new schedule in my life.
Even so, my blog statistics have still grown each month. I have not promoted Shadowing Enoch on social media, or Pinterest with any regularity, and yet… my blog has grown organically. Every month, I’m still seeing increased page views, and many many viewers are staying on my site and reading multiple posts. This is very exciting to me, because I have felt so inadequate with how much time I’ve given to the blog recently, and yet, God is giving an increase every month. I’m still trying to find the balance, but God very clearly is telling me to keep going! I truly do love blogging, so this is a very good reaffirmation for me, and one I truly thank God for! I don’t take this for granted, but truly want to be diligent concerning balancing blogging and everything else in my life, in the year ahead.
Another thing that has changed a lot for me since the beginning is the idea of monetizing my blog. Truth be told, I’ve never had much success at that, but I’ve still greatly enjoyed the main reason for my blog, which is proclaiming my love for Jesus and thanking Him for all He’s done for me though out my Faith-walk with Him. My truest treasure is stored up in Heaven, so if someone is blessed by my blog, or comes to know Jesus because of my blog, that is the Heavenly treasure I am truly blessed by, pray for, and desire the most. I want the world to know who the Savior is, and why I love Him so!
So, in reference to monetizing my blog… I’m not saying I won’t, or don’t want to at all; I’m just saying its not overwhelmingly important to me at this point. I’m not like lots of bloggers who are easy & natural at monetizing… I want it to be a minor part of what my blog is about, just enough to cover the costs of blogging and maintaining a website; these are my monetizing goals in general. I have some serious plans for the future, but they will be part of God’s doing, if He so wills. I am not stressing over that part anymore, which is relaxing and allows me to just see my blog as a way to promote my Savior and all He has done for me in 46+ years of following Him. (You can read my Salvation testimony here.)
In the 2 years that I have been blogging, I have relaxed a lot in what I see as important in this blogging world I find myself in. I gradually realized that just because others say “this is the right way you do it” doesn’t mean that is the way I think you necessarily have to do it, at least for me. I have learned to relax in the fact that I am an individual who deems certain things more important than other things, and that is OK. I just want to be faithful and diligent to write about walking with Jesus on this earthly journey, and encouraging others to join me on that journey, following Him as closely as Enoch did in Genesis 5:24, all the way home to Heaven. That is my humble goal.
I wrote a post early on which was my Top 10 Reasons for Writing my Christian Blog, and those all still hold true today. I have not been as diligent at writing more Children’s Lessons as I want to be, and that is one of the chief goals I have for the next year. I am always about 10 steps behind where I want to be on any given goal, but I try to always keep moving forward! So, usually, even if I am behind, eventually I do get there…. Slower than I would have hoped, but plodding along faithfully.
As I always say in these updates about my blogging journey, I want to encourage you if you are considering starting a blog, especially a Christian Faith based one. If we belong to Jesus, we all can have a voice for Him, sharing the Gospel with others, and sharing our testimony of our personal relationship with God. There can never be too many voices out there shining for Jesus. The internet is one of the most opportunistic mission fields out there today! It is available for anyone to use, even a little old Grandma like me, lol. And seriously, if I can do it, anyone can! My blog reaches more than I could ever have the opportunity to reach face to face. I am not naive enough to believe that what I say on my blog posts will catch everyone’s “ear”, but it may catch someone’s. (And that is what I earnestly pray for!) But YOUR thoughts put down in a blog post on your own blog may reach someone’s ear that won’t hear me, and vice versa. ALL of our blog voices put together, praising Jesus, and proclaiming that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” will have a tremendous impact for the Heavenly Kingdom in exponential ways we won’t see the full measurement of until we reach Heaven’s shores.
Click here to see what I believe a Christian blogger’s greatest Biblical promise is, and it is also true for anyone in any Christian ministry.
It is so humbling and exciting to see how far my simple blog has reached across the globe. I have had views from almost every country on Earth, including many where spreading the Gospel is prohibited. This is only something that could be achieved through God’s blessing, and in His Providence. Some may not like what they read, or they may have stumbled upon Shadowing Enoch purely by accident, but I still get an opportunity to share the Gospel. Many have stayed on my site and read multiple posts, so maybe God is using something I write to encourage a believer who needs some encouragement. (Also one of my greatest prayers!)
God only knows what purposes or intents He has for Shadowing Enoch, and I only want to be used as a humble & faithful vessel. As I have prayed and shared in my post “3 Strange Prayers I Pray,” (One of my most read blog posts!) I don’t want to know the vast majority of how God may choose to use me. I want most of it to be hidden from me until I get to Heaven. I want to know only enough to encourage me, but that is all. So, even with my blog, I want to be a blessing, but I don’t want to know the vast majority of that until I reach the other side. I do get letters here and there from someone who’s read a post that meant something to them or encouraged them, and I am grateful for those notes! They are a great blessing to me, and a great encouragement! But I hope & pray I am also encouraging many others who don’t write, but still walk away with a desire to walk closer to Jesus, or begin their walk with Jesus, because of something my writing has triggered in them. This is really a work of the Holy Spirit obviously, and not me…. I just want to be a vessel He uses.
This post is really simply an update of how I view this blogging journey I have been on for the last 2 years. If I can encourage you to begin blogging, if you have felt led to do so, I hope this post puts you over the blogging line! It is a wonderful journey; extremely fulfilling, very intense at times, sometimes extremely frustrating (tech stuff especially, for me!) and yet, soooo worth it overall. I am very glad God put me on this path back in mid-summer, 2017.
If blogging is not in your future, that’s ok too… I hope this just gives you more insight into Shadowing Enoch. I have a long way to go as a blogger, but I am thankful for how far I’ve come also. I have no idea what the next year will bring for Shadowing Enoch, but it is safely and securely in God’s hands. That brings me the most peace of all!
God Bless you all, and thank you from the bottom of my heart if you have read this, or any of my other blog posts. I am wonderfully blessed if you find a blessing there. <3
© 2019 LauraJSE All RIGHTS RESERVED
