How Long Have You Been Blogging? What Have You Learned?

Recently, a friend mentioned that he had been blogging for twenty years.

Twenty years.

That got my attention.

I started blogging in 2008 with a little blog called Joshua’s Hope. In 2013, I launched The Devotional Guy.

So, depending on how we’re counting, I’ve been doing this for somewhere around 18 years.

Which is kind of crazy when I think about it.

I’ve written through different jobs, different seasons, different churches, different struggles, and different joys. I’ve blogged between mountaintops, on hills and valleys, through thick and thin. My blog is anything but sanitized. It’s often a reflection of the raw realities of life here on the third planet from the Sun.

Since I started, the internet has changed. Smartphones and social media continue to evolve. So does blogging.

I have changed. I’ve grown. I’ve grieved. I’ve growled and groaned.

And yet, here I am.

Still writing.

Still wondering.

I’m living in a world that I am still trying to make sense of amid this strange, beautiful life of following Jesus.

Over the years, I’ve learned that blogging isn’t really about having something profound to say every day.

It’s mostly about paying attention.

Pay attention to what God is doing and to the people around you. Listen to the nagging questions that won’t leave you alone. Lean into the ordinary moments that contain the hope of something extraordinary.

I’ve learned that you don’t have to have everything figured out before you write. I discover what I think by writing it down.

I’ve learned that authenticity matters as much, if not more than, consistency. Consistency certainly matters when it comes to building integrity.

I’ve learned that numbers aren’t the best measure of whether something I posted mattered. It may only resonate with one person, but if it’s the right person who needed to read the words I wrote then maybe it mattered for a lifetime.

I still don’t completely understand why anyone reads what I write. However, I’m grateful they do.

That’s one of the gifts of blogging.

You start by thinking you’re going to tell people something only to discover you’re also learning something yourself.

So I’m curious:

How long have you been blogging?

And perhaps more importantly:

What has blogging taught you?

I’d love to hear your story. Drop it in the comments below.

Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

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