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My First Blog Post

Do you really think God will supply?

Bring your gifts and present them to the Lord . . . and you’ll see that “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”

— Malachi 3:10

When we found the faith and courage to say “yes” to God’s stirring in our hearts to go back overseas – our biggest fear was admittedly concerning the finances: “how could we come up with enough support to actually make that happen . . . ?” But, as the plaque says that was hanging in a prominent place in my childhood home, “If God bids thee ride, he will supply thee a horse!” – God loves to respond in surprising ways, when we step out by faith to obey what we believe him to be “bidding” us to do.

So, with that principle in mind (and after seeing Him supply for all our needs over many years we’ve been living and working in various places in the world) we set off to take faith steps in the direction we heard Him telling us to go – and He continues to be true to His word! Like the Malachi passage above, as we offer God our time, talents and money (which all belong to Him anyway . . . ) for his use – He makes them into such a blessing, that we can hardly contain it!

After just a few months from when we announced our plans to move to Germany this summer and start a new ministry role there (caring for missionaries in Souther Europe) we’ve gone from needing $3600 more per month in support to just $1600; and from needing $37000 in one-time relocation funds to now needing $17000. God loves doing this kind of thing!

So – if you’re reading this, and you form part of our support team, let me say: Thank You! God loves your heart for His Kingdom, and your generosity. And if you have been thinking about partnering with us but haven’t yet – please, don’t wait to be blessed as a giver. Jump on board. Click here for more info.

Gratefully yours!

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.