Sunday
May062012
The Power of Blogging
Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 6:26PM 
Writing this blog has been one of the biggest blessings in my life since I have had children.
{ Stick with me for today's post... I may ramble, but I'll get around to my point eventually. }
"I'd like to think that the longer I blog, the wiser I become, about real life and online life, too. "
I would make the same statement today, too. I do think that I'm blogging smarter, using my time more wisely, and learning so much about "real" life, as well.
I have made SO MANY friends whom I learn from and share ideas with ~ the interactions in this miniscule corner of the internet have been amazing to me. I look back at old posts and see friends I've now had for nearly three years.
My blog is entering a new season now.
- Joining the iHomeschool Network and writing a 10 Days series changed the way I looked at blogging.
- Homegrown Learners welcomed its first sponsor (thank you, Maestro Classics!) last week.
- A new section of the blog has been created. Music Notebooking Printables is a page I would like to update weekly.
- I've started writing in other places.
When bloggers wrote about "managing their online time" and basically speaking of their blogs as a business I never quite got that. I couldn't understand how these busy moms (especially the homeschooling ones!) had time for everything.
I thought that surely they must not be doing their jobs as homeschooling moms.... and that they certainly couldn't have a life outside of their blogs. I'm ashamed to admit I thought this way. I apologize to the bloggers out there who successfully juggle so much each day.
I never ceased to be amazed at God's perfect timing ~ and abundant grace. Every blog post and every interaction online has shaped me into the blogger I am today... and He's continuing to shape me into the servant He wants me to be.
That person is learning to be:
- a better steward of her time
- a more patient and forgiving wife, mother, and friend
- increasingly humble
- a more intent listener and less of a talker
- less judgmental (that's a biggie for me)
All this rambling is to say that I'm thinking about my blog differently now.
Yes, it is still my online scrapbook and a way for me to document our days.
But, it is also a way for me to be a Homeschool Ambassador , give and receive homeschool ideas, and yes... make a little extra money. It also causes me to stay up WAY to late.....
More importantly, it's a tool I'm using to further something about which I feel very strongly.... HOME EDUCATING! If you're reading my blog for the first time, welcome and I hope you'll subscribe to Homegrown Learners! If you're one of my friends who reads this on a regular basis - THANK YOU! You have no idea the way you have enriched me and shaped me these past three years.
How has blogging affected you? What have been the blessings (and/or curses?) you have experienced?
Reader Comments (13)
I am glad that you have come around to this. It was not long ago that you told me you wanted to give up blogging altogether, which I found sad because I know it is something you enjoy. It does take time, but I look at that time as my kids seeing me doing something I enjoy, something that I learn from and that shows them that learning is a lifelong venture! Congrats on the sponsors and blogging in other places!
Theresa ~ I've learned that sometimes I say too much when I'm frustrated. Another part of the learning process, I guess. Thanks for your kind words. :-)
Mary, congratulations on all the new directions you're taking with your blogging! I look forward to reading on :)
I'm so glad that I found your blog, Mary! I appreciate the wisdom of the 2nd generation, lifelong homeschoolers, but we are new, too, and it's nice to have a "contemporary" to walk with!
We moved, so we (temporarily) tried the local public school. While it was much safer than his first school, his brain is so not stimulated. So it is back to homeschooling next year. And family doesn't understand!
Thanks for your encouragement!
Your blog is the one I recommend to people considering homeschool. What an amazing job you do! I know it is work, but I can see how much it shapes what you do with the kids.
My blogging experience is different, since I just am random about posting. I've finally resorted to using it as a record of what we do during the week, plus a couple of other random things. That seems to be working for me (for now). Since I am such a bad scrapbooker this is a good substitute!
I am excited for you starting this new season in your blog. Can't wait to see where this leads!
Hi! I'm new to your blog, since the "10 days" posts. I really enjoy reading blogs, including other blogs on topics besides homeschooling. I do admit that your comment about wondering how bloggers do it without neglecting their homeschool is one that I have had as well. (Sometimes from a judgemental spirit, but more often from a jealous one - how could I find time to blog more and not be online too much!) I have a blog, not much gets done on it, but I constantly have ideas in my head of things to write, I just never get around to it. I would love to read a post about how you go about balancing blogging and life and homeschooling. I have really enjoyed your perspective!
mature words - thank you
"I thought that surely they must not be doing their jobs as homeschooling moms.... and that they certainly couldn't have a life outside of their blogs. I'm ashamed to admit I thought this way. I apologize to the bloggers out there who successfully juggle so much each day."
Wow, I almost could have hired you to write this post for MY blog! (Except for the printables part..) =p
I'm thinking some of these same things, at some of these same places. I put up the results to my reader survey today and I kind of alluded to some of these things but I couldn't put it all down on the page as well as you did here. Yes, I'm thinking about it differently now. Yes, God's timing is perfect. Yes, we need to manage the time, the business end of the blog, wisely. Yes, we are ambassadors!!
Exactly.
Great things are happening at Homegrown Learners! How exciting Mary. I always love coming here. I learn things every time. :)
I'm really excited for you and the different directions that you've branched out into! You are a great ambassador for homeschooling!
Thanks for the reminder :) Sometimes I think we forget that when we are truly open on our blogs, we really help other people. I love having places to send friends who want to know more about homeschooling! I can only help so much when their kids are older, since I haven't been there yet! Have a great week, Mary!
Yes, I've been struggling with blog direction too...and I was getting too compulsive about it, so I'm taking a break.
God is giving me more real life things to do, so who knows where the blog is going, but it continues to be a ministry to many others.
Blessings on you and your blog.
I really appreciated your post. I really appreciated your comment on how blogging helps you be more understanding because I'm writing an essay on how blogging helps us see multiple points of view and thus helps us be empathetic with others. Do you have any further opinions about this