Award Sunday: 7×7 Link Award!

I really have to praise God! He has seen fit to allow me another opportunity for reward. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Deb from Two Minutes of Grace nominated me for the Versatile blogger award. At the same time she nominated me for the 7×7 Link Award and I am just now getting around to publicly receiving it. Thanks so much Deb. To you all you faithful readers out there please check out Deb’s words at http://twominutesofgrace.wordpress.com/. Now onto the requirements of the reward:

Name seven unusual things about yourself:

1. I can quote the entire Green Lantern oath: “In brightest day in darkest night no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power Green Lantern’s light!”

2. I am a scyfy junky.

3. I am a Pentecostal Christian which I guess makes most people think I am unusual because I believe in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit including speaking in tongues.

4. I play the flute

5. I play the didgeridoo (badly)

6. I often read 7 or 8 books at a time.

7. I have preached the gospel in three countries so far.

the Second Requirement is that I give you seven of my “best” blogs in various categories:

Most Beautiful: https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/dance-in-the-rain/

Most Helpful:  I did a series on I Corinthians 13 called “Ferocious” https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/ferocious/ This is the first of the posts.

Most Popular: That’s Easy. https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/the-twelve-ways-of-fall/ this one was freshly pressed and got over 1000 hits.

Most Controversial: https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/regret-the-good-school-marm/

Most Surprisingly Successful: Again “The Twelve Ways of Fall” from most popular. Still can’t believe it even got pressed.

Most Underrated: Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts. People are afraid of ’em I think.

Most Pride Worthy:  A series again called “You Choose the View” https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/you-choose-the-view/

Finally I need to nominate seven bloggers for the same award. And the nominees are:

1. Rachel at http://stirringthedeep.com/

2. Angela at http://meetingintheclouds.wordpress.com/

3. Charles at http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/

4. Melody at http://melodygodfred.com/

5.  Patricia at http://patriciawonders.wordpress.com/

6.  http://todayithink.wordpress.com/

7.  Carrie at http://blog.carriemumford.com/

Thanks again Deb!

 

Post a Day For NaNoWriMo

    I am almost to the place where I am posting everyday now anyway; So I thought I would take WordPress up on their new challenge and start posting every single day no skipsees for the next month in honor of National Novel Writing Month. Some days I might even use their writing prompts!

   Hey see you tomorrow!

JE

Blog Buried

     I have learned so much about writing in the last few months. When my friend Nicole suggested blogging I recoiled from the idea (sort of). I felt like it would hem me in. While I have, over the years become a highly organized individual, my writing was one area in which I was still pretty laissez-faire.    I suppose something in me felt like accepting the structure of a blog (even though I controlled that structure) would somehow stifle my creativity.

    The idea for “Reinventing the We’ll” actually started to form when my children moved off to college. That was a year ago next week. As you can see by the dates of my first blogs, I resisted the urgings for some months.

       It was my son who really encouraged me to give it a try. I have found that contrary to my first thoughts blogging has actually increased my creativity. I am writing everyday. I am discovering how to write and publish against my deep insecurities about the imperfections of my work. Everyday my editing is becoming a little faster, a little better (long way yet to go).

    the writing part has been falling into place nicely. Yet I have discovered that writing is really only a part of the writing game. Blogging has begun to introduce me to a part of this world with which I have never had experience, building a readership. I asked my son how he thought I should go about it. It was suggested I should start reading and commenting on other blogs I felt were interesting.

    It seemed like sage advice so I started doing this. I have read many blogs and commented on some. Of course in order to leave a comment I have to leave my e-mail address in order for follow-up comments to be sent my way via notifications.

    Everything was working fine. I made it my goal to start following one or two new blogs a week. I have a system. I read until I find a blog I would like to comment on. I  write my comment and sign up for follow-up comments to be e-mailed to me. I usually subscribe to the blogs I comment on.

     I was getting ten or twenty follow ups a day off of six or seven blogs I had subscribed to. This was very manageable. It never occurred to me that the only reason I was having such an easy time of it was because all the blogs I had chosen had readerships only a little larger than mine. I was blissfully unaware that there were monsters in the water, some having not hundreds but thousands of readers.

     A few weeks ago I found just such a monster. His was a really informative blog on, of all things, “blogging”. I was very excited and at the finish I commented with a request for resources to look into. I followed my system, checked off the spaces for follow-up comments and subscribed to the blog. Then I went to bed.

       My sleeping self was unaware that slowly ever so slowly through the night I was being blog buried. I awoke and followed my morning routine. At work I opened up my computer and called up my e-mail. EIGHT PAGES OF FOLLOW UP COMMENTS!!! I am still having nightmares.