Blogging Thoughts

About a eighteen months ago, I really started focusing on my website and this thing called blogging. There were times that I was all in and there were times where I struggled to stay focused.

Blogging is work, it is hard work sometimes. Writing, putting out good, quality content isn’t always easy. Than on top of that, if you want to be successful, you have to put out a lot of content.

Sometimes, when I tell people that I have a blog they say ‘Oh that’s cool’ but their look says ‘Oh sounds stupid and a waste of time.’ I have learned to ignore them and keep moving on.

There are others, that when I tell them, encourage me and tell me to keep writing and putting out content. For those, I am thankful!

I have one friend who is a game streamer and has channels on YouTube and Twitch that encourages me, motivates me, pushes me to do more and work harder. Sometimes I think to myself that, that is easy for him to say because he has no wife, no kids and his job is what he loves and enjoys doing! But than I look at him and realize that he has put in work to get to where he is at and that it didn’t happen overnight. He is loving what he is doing!

A few weeks ago at camp, I spent quite a bit of time with some of the other counsellors, who happen to be good friends. One is the pastor of a church down in Alabama, one is the youth pastor at the church I attend and the other is also on staff at the same church. Each one of these young men (and I say that as two of them are my age and I consider myself young) are totally loving and enjoying their life and what they are doing.

I started this blog as a way to put some of my thoughts down and just put good stuff out there, especially on social media. Social media is a dangerous place for anyone. There is all kinds of things that we shouldn’t partake in that are now so prevalent on social media. Social media isn’t going away any time soon. If it isn’t one platform that’s popular, it is another. Since there is so much bad on social media, I want to put some good out there on social media.

My first attempt at blogging was under the name Church Pew Motivation. I put a few blogs on that site and I let it sit, I didn’t do much with it. I came across WordPress and decided to start again. When I was thinking of a name for this site, I kept thinking about my life verse, I Timothy 1:12. In this verse there is a phrase that says, “…for that he counted me faithful…” Paul was counted faithful by Christ, therefore he was placed in the ministry. As a Christian, I too want to be counted faithful by Christ. I want Christ to look at me one day and say “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” From that thought, that verse, that motivation I found in that verse came the title of the site, Counted Faithful.

I always dream of what my site can do and achieve and the reach that it COULD have. I have big dreams but does my work equal my dreams? If I were to answer honestly, I would have to say no. I do put in work, but I am only getting out what I put in. When I think of dreams and what it takes to accomplish them and make them reality, I think of a verse from the Bible. “For a dream cometh through a multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” Ecclesiastes 5:3 Even the Bible tells us that a dream is only accomplished by much business or work.

Last month was the best month that I have had on my site. The success that I had didn’t come from sitting and doing nothing, it came from working and putting in time and putting in effort to make it happen. I keep telling myself that there is nowhere to go from here but up!

My biggest problem with achieving and accomplishing my dream is myself. I have all the tools necessary to do something great, I just haven’t been putting any of those tools to use. I don’t want to do or be something great just to make a name for myself, I want everything I do to uplift and glorify God and to encourage and inspire Christians to live a successful Christian life.

As I have journeyed along this quest of blogging, I have learned a few things…

• First, I have learned that the easiest way of accomplishing something is just to do it. You aren’t ever going to accomplish anything if you sit there and do nothing. You have to start somewhere at sometime to get to where you want to get to. I thought blogging was easy before I started, but now I know that it takes a lot of work and the best way to blog is to just start and to do it.
• Second, I have learned that you need to surround yourself with people who push you to do more. Like I mentioned above, I have one friend who is always pushing me to do more than I have done. If we surround ourselves with people who are complacent with where they are at, soon we will become like them and never go anywhere.
• Third, I learned to always have a goal. It is always easier to accomplish something if you know what you’re aiming at. Each month, I set a goal in whether its views or visitors or posts that I put out, it gives me something to work towards.
• Fourth, I learned that if you don’t hit your goal, to get back up and try again. Thirty-two teams start a football season, only one is left standing at the end. What happens the next year, the same thirty-two teams try again to win that championship. If I fail to hit a goal that I set, I just have to try again and again and again until I hit it.
• Lastly, I have learned that even though it isn’t easy, stick at it because this is something that I love doing. I have enjoyed every bit of writing blogs and posting content. Sometimes it is hard, sometimes it does take some extra effort to get content out. But what do they say, If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. That is where I want to be one day!

Thanks for reading, liking, and leaving comments as each one of those things encourages and motivates me to do more!