I’ve climbed a few “14ers” in my life (that’s me and my boy on the top of Grays Peak in Colorado: elevation 14,278′) but that was nothing compared to getting to the blogging world equivalent of conquering Mt. Everest…writing 1000 blog posts!
It’s taken me since April 10, 2006 to get here. My lungs aren’t burning. My legs feel fine. But my fingers cramp up from time to time and I’m dehydrated due to too much coffee flavored caffeine.
I entered the world of blogging kicking and screaming. My first blog was titled, “With fear and trepidation” because that’s exactly how I felt. The marketing branch of Dare 2 Share (the ministry I lead) thought it would be a good idea for youth leaders to hear from me every now and again. Of course I was excited to encourage youth leaders through my writing but to commit myself to do this weekly seemed like a big deal. But after thinking and praying about it for awhile I reluctantly agreed.
Why was I so reluctant? Other than the commitment to consistently upload new posts I was worried that I might run out of stuff to say! 🙂
Little did I know that I would soon become addicted to blogging, that I would find it an unexpected outlet for creativity and that it would become my online sermon illustration file (and, yes, sometimes I just cut and paste a story straight from a post into a sermon I’m preparing.)
I’m sure that the blogging process has benefited me more than anyone else who reads my posts. It is a therapeutic process of getting my thoughts and feelings forged into words and sentences. I have worked out aspects of my theology and ministry philosophy as I’ve typed, erased, reconsidered and re-written my posts.
And, yes, I break a lot of blogging rules. My blogs are usually WAY longer than 500 words. I don’t use enough video. Usually I just write what I’m passionate about in the heat of the moment. Then I move onto something else…until I get the itch to write again.
It’s not a very scientific process. It’s more of a heat of the moment eruption of words.
So thank you to those of you who read my blog. Thanks for throwing in a comment every now and again. Thank you for putting up with my theological rants, goofy insights and wordy “wisdom.”
At the end of the day my prayer is that my blog will inspire youth leaders to build grace-filled, prayer-fueled, gospel-advancing youth ministries. My hope is that gregstier.org nudges you closer to Jesus and closer to a lifestyle of evangelism.
If God grants me another 1000 blog posts I may work on limiting my word count, increasing my conversations in the comments section and using more video. In the meantime let me just say thanks for tagging along. It’s been a blast.
And check this out, I finished this post in less than 500 words…barely.
Viva LA Cause!