My friends. As you can see from the recent history of this blog, things are changing in my life. I have written here only a handful of times this year, because I have not had the brain space to compose anything good. I have ideas, plans, direction from the Lord, and yet at this time, none of that is translating into readable information.
Over the last seven years of this blog, the content has changed dramatically. It started out as a way to mark time, to make note of accomplishments when I was feeling like I was getting nothing done. Over the years it adapted to suit my needs, whether that meant instructing readers on creative projects, or sharing progress on my homemaking goals. And with each new blog direction, I found myself continually pulled to "attract readership" with my content. I found myself living life around the next blog post. Occasionally I would write something that I knew was very good, but it was surrounded with daily filler posts, because that's how you keep your readers interested. Blog every day.
And this year, I challenged myself to only write when I had something to say. I have had my fingers on the keys on my laptop, ready to post some filler or a quick update, and I've stopped myself, because it's time that all of my writing become intentional. My children need me more than my readers do. My house needs cleaning more than it needs refurbishing. And those are not things I feel like writing about. "Hey guys! I finally cleaned out my fridge and opened a container of beans that I should have just thrown away. The whole house smells like farts." Funny and tragic, yes. But those updates are better suited for facebook, don't you think?
In my heart, I am a thinker and a writer. God has given me the ability to experience intense emotions, and later convert them into essays that bring others into a fellowship of shared understanding of Him. But that ability has taken a bit of a vacation, and instead the Lord has challenged me to just be in the moment, feel the feelings, and share them with Him. Or my kids. Or my husband.
So, I have no idea what the immediate future of this blog holds. I will probably never become one of the "big" ones. I can't decide if I'm a craft blogger, a home blogger, a mom blogger, or a lifestyle blogger. And finally, the Lord has laid on my heart, "that's okay." There have been times when I have blogged every day, and loved it. My readership skyrocketed at those times. It was exciting! But I felt like I was living two lives--blog and real. I tried to get my blog to reflect my actual life, but that gets confusing when you blog every day, and the reverse starts to happen...my real life is dictated by the blog. (For example...I would love to hem the curtains in the kids room, but I need interesting content, and that's not interesting, so I'll start another building project to draw them in instead.) This is not the healthiest way to live.
So, from now on, whether I get the readers or not, I am committed to making the blog reflect our real life. And if all there is to show for it is making pbj's for school lunches, and sleepless nights due to my teething infant, you might not hear from me for a while. Or, it is entirely possible that the relief from making this announcement will induce all kinds of good thoughts about life that I just have to share. And if that happens, I'll put it here.
One thing that I have loved about this blog is that it's like my scrapbook. I'm not a scrapbooker. I've finally admitted that, and felt immense grace as a result. But as I slowly work on creating simple, digital memory books, I've been able to refer to my blog for funny sayings from the kids, or a moment that God put on my heart. That is invaluable, and I am so thankful that the Lord provided this form of expression when He did. I hope to continue using the blog for that.
If you have the desire to hear from me more than a couple times a month, I would love for you to join my facebook page or follow me on instagram. I post there several times a week still, and love using it as a connection to real-live people. (Because I'm often posting from under a pile of babies.)
You can find those here:
instagram: lassothetruth
facebook: ropeshop
I'll update the facebook page when there is a new post here, but if you want personal inbox notification, you can sign up with your email address on the left margin of the blog homepage.
Thank you all for taking this journey with me. I hope to continue in a way that's pleasing to the Lord, and beneficial to my family.
XOXO, Anna
