Quick update

Just wanted to give you all a very brief update…I haven’t posted in a month and trust me, it’s been extremely hard because I always seem to either have tons to say, or have nothing to say yet still want to say something. Haha. I laugh at myself most of the time 😉

I held off on the blogging to focus on my family during Christmas and the holidays, and the timing just wasn’t right yet. It wasn’t just me…God pretty much told me to nix the blogging, focus on Him, and have some time away from it. And I was okay with that. It was much needed.

I also needed some time to focus on getting ready to announce what I will be announcing in my more informative blog later on in the week. I had to figure out how and what and when to say it. I have some VERY big news to tell you all! So get ready, get excited, get pumped up! 🙂 I’m pretty much planning on a Friday or Saturday post. Probably Friday, but Saturday if I’m patient.

Thank you for sticking with me on this, and for continuing to support me. It truly means the world to me.

[I also do realize this borders on horrible…doing this to you all…but alas, it is necessary.]

Sorry about the lull…

…life sure has gotten the best of my blogging lately. I’m guessing you want to know all about the Desiring God conference! In fact, I think I’ll be posting a few of the sessions on my blog for you to enjoy through the next couple weeks when I can find the time. There were some that I couldn’t get enough of — especially Louie Giglio. If you’ve ever heard him speak, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Seriously amazing! What He shows us about God and who He really is is absolutely staggering!

There’s been a lot going on in the life of Jess lately. The weekend of the conference was also the same weekend we said goodbye to one of my brothers who is off to Air Force basic training. Pretty cool, as he’s been working toward this for a long time and is super dedicated to it — we know this is God’s call on his life — but it is still weird to have him gone!

Oh, and we had our first Mission Talk lifegroup last night. The one where we bring in missionaries to tell us their stories, their calling, how they got on the mission field, what it has been like, what their vision is for the future, etc. It’s amazing. This is something I feel is 100% necessary for followers of Jesus to do. To gather around our missionaries to support them and listen to them and be inspired by them to go (or at least to send!) as well — and especially to pray for them! It’s such a GOOD time. God’s doing amazing things around the world, and I don’t know about you, but I definitely want to be a part of it!

So anyway, definitely processing things from the conference and seeking God. It’s hard for me to gather my thoughts on it, because there are so many. But I will try. Later, though! 🙂

What kind of blog reader are YOU?

If you were a blogger, what would you write about?

Honestly, I have all these thoughts, a jumbled mess of ideas, and no clue what anyone ‘likes’ to read about and what would draw people in. “So,” I ask, “What do YOU want to hear about?” What attracts you to a blog? Why do you read? Is it simply because it’s interesting to read about someone else’s thoughts and to get a snapshot of their life? Do you enjoy blogs of complete randomness, or do you prefer that a blog sticks to a certain theme? Would you rather read a blog with pictures, or is it ok if not everything has a visual?

I read plenty of blogs. But sometimes I’m interested and sometimes I’m not. Maybe that’s normal. And everyone’s different. But I feel like my job as the writer is to not lose the reader. That’s been ingrained in me since day 1 of journalism class in college! 🙂 So…this is just a way for me to hear from you about what attracts you to a blog and why you stick with it, subscribe, etc. Let me know, because I am really curious!

Also, do you comment on every blog or do you usually just read them? What would bring you to comment? It’s a form of interaction that every blogger works toward, and I can tell you from personal experience, it’s pretty exciting when someone comments on your blog, even if it is just your mom or dad 😉

So fill me in! I’m “probably too excitedly” awaiting your feedback 🙂

A New Day

I have started a new blog! Just seeing what the blogosphere looks like from this side of things. I still have my “iamaredhead” blog, and I’m keeping it, because I love it. Don’t know what I’ll do with 2 blogs…but hey, we’ll see what happens 🙂

I’ve entitled my blog “writtenforapurpose” because that’s my goal for my writing. I want to write for a purpose. I want it to be God-centered, God-focused, and it’s also a dream of mine to write for non-profit ministries and missionaries and travel to tell people’s stories around the world. I want to get the word out about sex trafficking, about AIDS, about hunger, about poverty, about clean water programs and church plants and all the above. Like I said, it’s a dream. A big dream, and I’m not sure how to get there…but I know I’m supposed to write, so write I will. This blog is raw me. Raw God. Raw life. I hope that as I write whatever I write here, that you get something out of it.