I am involved in a fabulous group that challenges us with our writing. This week they have asked us exactly why we write and if we write for a specific niche. They also asked if we think we are more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants writer, outliner, or planner. I’ll share my thoughts here.

I believe those in the blogging world all have questions at one point or another about what their “niche” is, exactly. Some enjoy writing about crafting, do-it-yourself ideas, homeschooling, and photography, etc. while others enjoy writing about motherhood, their faith, and even sharing devotional material. If you have been following my blog for very long at all, you know that I write about God in my posts while sharing positive, uplifting, and encouraging thoughts and scriptures. I want to offer support to those that are hurting or in need so that they can see God’s light shining in the darkness that they may be feeling in their lives. I want them to be surrounded by His love and to feel hope again.

As you also may know, I do write random things about my family as I love sharing about these precious people in my life! God has blessed me so much with these two beautiful young ladies. My heart just overflows with love for them, and I want to share it with the entire world!

I also enjoy writing book reviews. I am not receiving any form of payment for the reviews on my site, but I share them in an effort to help others that may not have time to read the entire book. I try to summarize the main points that have struck me in hopes of helping others with the material shared. I focus on encouraging books, self-help types, and books about God.

Recently, I shared with this group that I think God will bless if we share our heart no matter what we write about. I know we want to have people following along on our blogs because that is when it is the most fun! However, I believe that we should be more focused on an audience of one – God. If He is pleased, that is all that truly matters. There will be some people that will love what I write, while others will try to pick it apart. I just know that if my focus is on pleasing God, I cannot go wrong.

Now to the tough question of whether I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer, outliner, or planner. I would very much like to plan, prepare, and outline. Although I set out to do all of these things, I find that I am more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer. I can sit at the computer and focus my heart and mind while trying to drown out all of the distractions around me. Then before I know it, my fingers are flying on the keyboard as God leads me to share. Whether I write about my day, the struggles I’ve faced in this life, or just about God’s overall goodness, I write to share as much positives with the world all while being “real.” While everyone would like things to be roses, daisies, sunshine, and rainbows all the time, the reality is that we all have troubles and things that threaten to steal our joy and peace. We are being “real” when we share those with others: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have found, though, that the more you focus on the negatives, the more they can consume you. With that in mind, I may mention the struggles, but I try to turn the negatives in my life into positives. I attempt to share light where there is darkness, love for those hurting that can relate to what I’m talking about at that particular moment in time, and hope for those that have all but given up at that point. The motto behind my website, after all, is:

Light, Love, Hope: A place where you will find light in the darkness, surrounded by love, and to offer hope for those in need.

Blogging opens up a whole new world. It can take a somewhat seemingly “stuffed shirt” of an executive outside of the boardroom and transform them into a little kid again as they share the fun things in their life that they do with their small children. It can snap a depressed person out of the pits by knowing that what they share is helping someone else in the world hold on a little tighter when they really just want to give up, give in, and let go. Blogging can also offer an outlet for a stay-at-home-mom to have more adult conversation, while helping an empty-nester by allowing them to share about the days they miss so much with little ones of their own.

I’m thankful to be a part of the blogging community. Thank you, dear readers, for allowing me to share my heart and for coming back to read about my adventures.