Top Posts of The First Part Of 2012

I can be a bit of a high volume blogger. Don’t worry, I don’t really expect any of you to read everything I write. My purposes for this blog are a bit more personal and complex than just seeking an audience. That being said however, there isn’t writer out there who doesn’t want others to read (and appreciate) their words and the heart that gives birth to them. With that in mind, I thought I’d review the past 4 months and pull out what I have judged to be my top posts for the first quarter of 2012.

How did I determine what made the list? A combination of factors: number of views, number of comments, quality of comments – both on and off blog – and personal preference. I’ve numbered them but they are not really in a particular order.

1. He’s Sneaky – Jesus pt. 18 - I write about Jesus every Saturday. It is my joy to think and write about Him in a very honest, non-Sunday School way. This entry sort of typifies that. I love Him. He drives me crazy. He’s saved my life. He’s ruined it. I’m pretty sure that folks who say they understand Him don’t really know Him very well at all.

2. Marriage Predictors pt. 7 – Surviving The “Who Are You And What Did You Do With My Spouse” Moment? - I wrote a series at the start of the year about Marriage Predictors: those character qualities, behavior patterns and practices of young couples that, like road signs, tell us all where the relationship is going.  This post didn’t get as many hits in the Marriage Predictors series as others in its first publishing, but wow! It has had quite a second life in the past few months, with many visits centered in the south Asia region. Not sure why, but it has been fun trying to guess.

3. Conversation With A Car Full Of Counselors - I remember trying to find words to describe this particular day to myself. I said things like “I felt invited to the grown-ups table” and “For the first time, I found people who speak my ‘ministry language’. Turns out more than a few counselors actually read the blog too. I hope I don’t have to be concerned…

4. My Fearful Prayers – (The Heart pt. 14) – A brutally honest post – and one of those I somehow find myself writing – where I manage to put words to something evidently many are thinking, but not ready to say out loud just yet.

5. Learning To Say New Things To Him (Jesus pt. 16) - This post is so obviously from my heart and such a clear representation of just how far Jesus and I have come. If no one else had read this or found it beneficial, it would still rank up there on a list of my personal favorites.

6. Sometimes He Wants Me To Be Passive (Jesus pt. 14) - Sometimes I get a lot of comments off-blog, via Facebook and email. This is one of those posts. It obviously registered with readers in a very personal way. Me too.

7. Do You Run To Or Away From Burning Buildings? (The Heart pt. 15) - This one was the last in a very long series I wrote about the heart. I’ll probably take up themes like this again in the coming months because I find it so central to what an authentic expression of the Christian faith should look like.

8. Grieving The Me I Could Have Been (Being Human pt. 5) - I wanted to include a very recent post on this list and this one… classic me. Introspective. Honest. A little out in left field. But grounded in a reality those with eyes to see live in. I have also personally been enjoying the Being Human series. God has done a great work in me to enable me to write it at all.

9. The Obligatory Sentimental, Quasi-Thought Provoking Valentine’s Day Post - A great love story – of how Jesus used my husband to save my heart and life.

10. Marriage Predictors Pt. 4 – Tour de Marriage - The most hit and referred post I’ve EVER done.

11. Learning To Sit In It (The Heart pt. 11) - The lessons I had to learn in order to write this were some of the most painful and deep in my entire walk with Jesus.

12. Dangerous Times - Every once in a while, I write a post and think it is stinky. So I’ll sit on it for a long time and then sort of dump it on the blog months later in an effort to clear out my drafts folder. This was one of those posts. Imagine my surprise when it became the second highest read and widely referred post I did this year.

13. Not Tying It Up With A Bow (The Heart pt. 12) -  I’m a communicator. I love managing to find ways to connect big truths from heart to heart. This was a post about how messy the process can be sometimes.

14. I Bet He Likes Tinker Toys (Jesus pt. 9) - The word picture here…it spoke to me powerfully and is becoming something of a life metaphor for me.

What This Blog Is All About

Every once in a while I like to take a fresh look at my blog, approaching it as if I were someone who doesn’t know me personally or my back story. Could they pick up on what I’m trying to do here? Is it easy enough to enter in to the stream of thoughts and follow along? Would they even want to?

In light of these questions and the fact that I’ve gained a few new readers in recent months, I thought it would be a good idea to explain some of the reasons why I write the way I do.  Hope this helps you to more fully appreciate and enjoy what goes on here.

1. I try to write an entry in 500 words or less. I’ve found that internet reading is often done quickly with lots of skimming. (This is why I highlight my most important phrases and sentences.) If a writer can’t make their point directly and quickly, convincing the reader that what they are saying has value, many simply move on. In order to swim with this stream and not fight it, I try to condense my thoughts into a practical length. It has been a wonderful writing exercise and education. I don’t always follow this religiously, but I rarely go over 800 words in an entry.

2. I write in series of thought. Because I limit myself in length, I often write about topics over several (and sometimes many) posts. It gives me the chance to explore themes from different angles (which I obviously enjoy doing) to my little heart’s content. At the same time, it gives readers easy entry and exit points so they can join or leave the conversation as they wish.

3. I am a Christ-follower. I seek to live a life of influence and impact. I have a heart for the nations. I love seeing people awaken to the joy of relating to their Creator and the many forms that process takes. I believe God meets us in our mess and honesty. I find culture and people fascinating. I am wired for the communication of big ideas, both verbally and in written form. I can’t not tell about what Jesus is doing in my heart and life. I love connecting with others through story and since I live in the middle of mine, it is often the backdrop for my writing. These are some of the things you’ll read about on this blog.

4. I’m a verbal processor.  (More on this here.) I write with both my head and my heart, sometimes circling around intriguing ideas and sometimes plunging in to deep emotional and spiritual issues. In either case I often use the writing process to interact with Jesus as I wrestle with things, inviting Him into my heart-conversations. I sometimes hit the publish button mid-struggle because I think there is value in gut-wrenching honesty. (Sometimes if I wait a few days a blog post would come out very different – and I don’t want to lose the experience of what it feels like right in the middle of it.) I have also found that sometimes I manage to put words to what others might be thinking but are not ready to say out loud. The older I get, the more ok I am with mystery. I don’t always feel the need to tie every thing up with a bow and resolve every issue – because we all know life is much more complicated than an alliterated three point sermon. This is what makes my writing style sometimes feel a bit raw, messy and unsettled. But hopefully, it is at least very real and very authentic. And I can say with confidence, that the process of really engaging Him deeply always leads me to more of Him.

5. I have readers from all over the map – literally and metaphorically. One of the things I love most about this blog is the diversity of readers across nationalities, the states, seasons of life and professions. This does present certain challenges, however. I have to think about how what I’m saying might be received through cultural and generational filters or by those for whom English is their second (or third or fourth language). Again, this has been a wonderful writing and communication education.

Thank you so much to all who check in here and keep up with me. There isn’t a writer out there who doesn’t enjoy folks coming along for the ride. As always, I appreciate all feedback and comments, either on the blog, by email or via Facebook.

Jesus. Just Jesus

I began a series entitled “Jesus” on the blog a few weeks ago and I publish it every Saturday morning. Honestly, it is some of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Ever. I can’t really speak to the quality of writing, but I know that I love that the place in my heart that generates my words is alive and vital, focused on my Savior. I’ll keep it up until I don’t have anything else to say about Him, which means, maybe not always weekly, but this just might what I write on for the rest of my life. I hope so anyway. And it should have been all along.

As I’ve entered and am moving right on through middle age, how I relate to Him, how I do my spirituality, how I read the Bible, pray and work out my sanctification – it has all been fair game for evaluation. And man, has it needed adjustment! These thoughts were born out of a private (yet not really private since it made it on the blog) re-orientation of my relationship with Him. (Only I can make my faith sound so cold and clinical – which is one of the reasons why I’ve needed this season to process.)

I’ve been a follower of His for a while now. And it has been so easy to fall into a rut. To not give my relationship with Him too much thought. Or to give it too much thought and not enough emotion. To drift and not realize how far I’ve drifted till I am terrifyingly far from where I thought I was. To conform my outward behavior to a cultural norm without letting Him really have access to my heart. To go through the motions. To live out what I believe through the filter of my life’s experience rather than the reality of what God was calling me to. Relationship. Not task.

And in His mercy, He said, “Enough.”

I don’t think I’ll ever recover from the fact that Jesus has loved me. Not what I do. Just me. He doesn’t hover over me waiting to smack me around when I fail. He walks with me, correcting to be sure, but He walks with me affectionately till we get where we are going.

And I could write about what this looks like in my life for the rest of my life.

So on the day we celebrate His birthday, I just wanted to write a bit about how I love Him. Not how I serve Him. Not what I think about Him. Not what I hope He will do in or with my life in the future. Not about what I want from Him.

I just want to write about how I love Him. I do. I can’t help myself either. Even though He has messed me up pretty good, in a beautiful, tragic way. Even though He has broken my heart in a way I wasn’t sure I would recover from. Even though He has demanded more of me than I ever thought I could give. Through it all He has mercifully changed  just about everything in my life, for which I am so unbelievably grateful.

It has been like Jesus has personally said to me, “My friend. My daughter. My beloved. This year, and every year of your life from here on, you get Me. More of Me. Merry Christmas.”

Coming Up On The Blog

Today, Friday 11/11/11,  I am guest posting at Alise…Write! – the site of a fellow blogger and professional writer. She really knows what she is doing in the blogosphere and I am honored by the opportunity to join her there. Click here to read it and see what she is up to. My topic is “40 Is The New 20″ and while it is in a bit of a different style than my typical Intersections post, you’ll still recognize the introspective, over-analytical style that (hopefully) works for me right here at home.

Today is also my 16th wedding anniversary to my best friend, comedic life partner, hero, lover and most favorite engineer. No one makes me smile like he does.  Like most things in my life,

Me and hubby, hanging out in Berlin, one of our most favorite cities!

I’ll probably blog about it before too long.

Also, I will be starting a few new blog series in the upcoming days – and I think it is some of the most important things I have ever written. Well, important to me anyway. I hope you will tune in, subscribe even and let me know what you think.

And just in case I don’t communicate it clearly enough – to those who faithfully stop by my little blog here, I am so grateful! I write because I must, because I have to communicate something of what God is stirring in me, because writing it out helps me make sense of it all. But it sure is nice when friends, who don’t have to, come along for the ride just because they want to. So, in some of the languages of my honored visitors and friends – Thank you! Danke! Tusen Takk!  Merci! Bedankt! धन्यवाद ! 感谢 ! Gracias! Grazie! Terima kasih! təşəkkür edirəm! Hvala Vam! Asante!

Why I Blog pt. 3 – Heart Vomit – Welcome To The Splash Zone (Heart stuff pt. 1)

Ok, so I’m looking around at my blog – the stuff I’ve written recently and the stuff that will be in upcoming posts.  Sometimes when I go to analyze something, I try to imagine I’m not me and wondering how someone who isn’t me would see it. My conclusions?

Me. Smiling. Proof it does happen. In between all the heart vomit, that is.

On certain days, my review of this blog might read something like this, “This chick takes herself waaaaaaaaaay to seriously.” Yeah, sorry about that. I don’t think anyone has ever described me as a type B.

In the previous entries in this series, (why I blog – verbal processor, I have to)  I hit some of the reasons I write like I do. I write because there is something inside of me that has to come out. Maybe Heart Vomit would have been a more descriptive title for what I do here. And while it does have its own poetry and imagery, I’m trying to move away from junior high-ish bodily fluid humor.

The title of this blog is Intersections and the tag line reads, “Intersections are places where roads meet, choices are made, collisions happen and directions change.” I’m fascinated by where the eternal meets the present. And it seems to me that intersection lies in rather messy places. Like the heart.

I like to think it is sort of how I reflect something of God’s image in me – creating, wrestling, making something out of a mess… I have to write about what I’m thinking about, processing, etc. Sometimes I think about what my readers might want to read about. (Now that my mom has passed, I’m afraid that number has shrunken by half) But for the most part, this blog is my heart vomit. I’m just throwing out there what is coming up from the inside of me. If anyone else wants to look at it with me, I’m glad to share. (Otherwise, this would be a journal shelved on my desk and not a blog posted on the world-wide web.)

So, welcome to the splash zone. All are welcome here, but you might want to watch where you step.

Why I Blog pt. 2 – I Have To!

I was thinking about this recently. I’ve been blogging consistently, usually twice weekly, since 2005. A few years ago, someone asked me, “How do you have time for this?” And my immediate answer was, “I love to blog… and people always make time for what they love.”

During that time I’ve cycled through three different blogs, each with a different purpose. The first, Beyond The Water’s Edge (still my sentimental favorite), chronicled our years and ministry in Jena Germany. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I sure had fun learning a lot about writing and telling stories. The second, What Box?, was a transitional blog, containing a mix of thoughts and family updates. And then this blog, Intersections… The reasons I blog here and now are actually described on the tab above that says, “Why This Blog Exists”. So, let me tell you how Intersections came to be.

About this time last year I was in Oslo, heartbroken that we weren’t moving there and that God’s plans for me were so radically different than what I expected. I went for an intentional time of healing, to hear from God directly and to say goodbye to the dream that wasn’t to be. While I was there however, God began stirring many things in my heart. Long story short, He told me that He does indeed have things for me to do in my future, plans for me that will satisfy the desires of my heart – and this next season of life needs to be about me preparing for that.

One of the things He said specifically that I need to do now is to create things – things He can use in whatever capacity He chooses. Written things that capture the ideas, thoughts and experiences He has and is giving me. The blog is one way I am trusting God, by simply creating something.

And I came back from Norway and wrote for about a month non-stop. Stuff and ideas just came pouring out. It still is. I’m not sure if anyone else is reading or even interested in what I write, but I still HAVE TO write what you read here. If I don’t:

1) I’ll explode. There are things inside of me that I just have to get out. From what I can gather, most Bible teachers feel this way.

2) I’ll lose a record of the things God is talking with me about. This is perhaps the most valuable aspect of what I do.

3) I would lose a primary way that I wrestle and interact with God as He and I work through His word and my stuff.

4) I would be disobedient to God if I didn’t.

 

Cheering Me Up

There are days when I get discouraged about my blog. I’m not sure if the effort I put into it is worth it, if anyone is actually reading it…etc. Then there are the fun days when Feedjit  makes me smile.