The End of the Blog as We Know It
The primary contributing factor as to why I’m leaving my blog is time. As those who blog or have blogged know, producing a blog with any degree of quality on a weekly basis is very time-consuming. There are a lot of other, higher-priority activities that are demanding more of my time these days, leaving me less and less time to blog. As a result, I feel distanced from my blog and from you, and I feel guilty that you aren’t getting the meaty entries out of me that you’re used to.A New Avenue of Ministry
As I enter my last year of college, my classes are the most advanced I’ve taken so far as well as the most demanding and labor intensive. In addition, God is opening many doors of opportunity for me to use the skills I’m learning for the furtherance of His kingdom. As you know, I’ve been involved with a ministry to the homeless down in Galveston, TX, a city about two hours away from where I live. I travel down there every other weekend, and recently put together a short informational video about it for their website.
Darren Smith, the guy who coordinates the homeless outreach, is planning to start up several more in various cities across Texas and in Mexico, as well. And guess who he wants to put together videos about each one to be distributed for fundraising purposes? Yes, you got it, and it doesn’t take a fortune-teller to foresee a lot of traveling in my future, as well as even more time spent glued to my computer chair editing movie clips. I envision a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm taking comfort in the parable of the talents, where the obedient servants doubled their investment. I ought to be a designer worthy of my hire by the time I’m done!
In addition to that, the church I attend now – more about that next week – is currently praying about what sort of outreach God would have us do in our own community. So, I’m very excited about the ways God has seen fit to use me, and I consider it quite a privilege. Therefore, please don’t view my leaving this blog as a bad thing at all. Although you will be missed -- and dare I hope I will be too? -- I hope you can see how God is calling me away from one thing into a different, deeper calling and deeper obedience to His will.
Which Brings Us to Your Question . . .
Everyone who has so kindly written to express their regrets about my leaving and wish me well in the future has wondered if I plan to blog elsewhere. The answer is . . . I don’t know. My mentor -- and I have to stop right here and say that finding my mentor – or rather, him finding me, via this blog -- was a unexpected benefit of blogging and blessing God saw fit to bestow on me. He couldn’t have given me a better one, and I thank God everyday for my mentor's wisdom and generosity to me.
Anyway, what I was saying before my digression was that my mentor says I should forget graphic design and become a professional writer. Much to his dismay, I must admit that I get more of a thrill from a blank PhotoShop or Flash screen than I do a blank Microsoft Word screen!
However, writing is in my blood, and despite the fact that I really don’t want to start a new blog, I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I won’t be able to stay away from writing forever. (Although Kent's probably hoping I'll translate that urge to write into a few articles for 90&9!) And as much as I really don’t have the time anymore, a great name for a solo blog (Confessions of an Oddball (!) keeps floating around in my head. So I’m definitely not ruling out the possibility, and we’ll see what the future holds. Perhaps God will have me blog again one day.
More About Your Next Blogger
Rest assured that, just as I mentioned in my last entry, ninetyandnine.com does have a new blogger lined up to begin September 1, and I’ve been given permission to drop some hints about who she is. So here’s another: in her exposure to ninetyandnine.com, she has been quite popular. In fact, I recommended her to Kent before I even knew he was considering her as well. She has been one of my biggest cheerleaders on this blog, and I couldn’t have picked better hands in which to leave you.
So stick around; I hear her identity will be revealed soon in true Just a Little Bit Odd style . . .
Questions, comments, concerns? E-mail me! I reserve the right to quote you unless you ask otherwise.
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