The Benifits of Blogging
I've been blogging now for over three years, if you subtract the break I took it'd be more like 2-2.5 years but that is still a good chunk of time spent. As I've said before, I enjoy blogging because it gives me a place to organize and work through things I'm thinking about.
Back in August I began my first semester at the local junior college after taking quite a bit of time off upon my graduation from high school. During that time I always wanted to go to school, but various things kept me from doing it. So, it was with great prayer and consideration that I entered into this. This semester much of my time has been taken up with Math and English. I despise Math. Seriously. So long as I can balance my check book I really don't care about numbers. I've got a great teacher though, so it hasn't been completely intolerable.
English, on the other hand, has always been a class I've loved. I like to read, I like to interact with what I've read, I like to write, so I was very much looking forward to this class. But I also went into this knowing that this is not a setting that supports a Biblical world view and I knew there were going to be things that I didn't agree with that I would have to respond to. I wasn't concerned so much with these things challenging my faith, so much as I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to respectfully and Biblically discuss my concerns.
I mention respectfully because I've got quite a temper at times and blogging really can lend itself well to shooting your mouth off. So as I've read for my English class I've sought, successfully I might add, to balance my reading with more specific time in Scripture, a devotional, and trying to find Christian authors that address the things I'm reading about. Beyond keeping me grounded, I've found that most of the time these authors are able to express things more clearly than I am able to, so I'm always on the look out for a great quote.
And you know what? This regiment has help me a lot. I'm growing spiritually, and my writing has been improving. My confidence in what I've written? Not so much. I'll finish an assignment, think it is pretty great while I still have it and the moment it leaves my hands I start worrying that it is awful. I've got to work on that. If I've done my best then I have to be content with however things turn out. And so far I really don't have any justification for the worry. The grades have been good/ great, yet I still worry.
Ah, but what is the point? What does my English class have to do with blogging? A lot, I think. The first day of class we had to write down a mini autobiography, and in it I had mentioned that it has been a long time since I've been in school. The teacher must have that in the back of her head because when I got an essay handed back to me today there was a note for me to see her after class.
Can we say heart attack?! Geez. The grade was decent, so I couldn't figure out why she'd want to talk to me about the essay. When I approached her to talk about the essay she said considering the time off the essay reads very well. I chuckled and admitted that I try to write at least once a week (you should see the drafts saved on my blog!) to keep my brain from turning to drivel that consists of Dora the Explorer reruns.
Yes, my friends, blogging is good for your brain!
Back in August I began my first semester at the local junior college after taking quite a bit of time off upon my graduation from high school. During that time I always wanted to go to school, but various things kept me from doing it. So, it was with great prayer and consideration that I entered into this. This semester much of my time has been taken up with Math and English. I despise Math. Seriously. So long as I can balance my check book I really don't care about numbers. I've got a great teacher though, so it hasn't been completely intolerable.
English, on the other hand, has always been a class I've loved. I like to read, I like to interact with what I've read, I like to write, so I was very much looking forward to this class. But I also went into this knowing that this is not a setting that supports a Biblical world view and I knew there were going to be things that I didn't agree with that I would have to respond to. I wasn't concerned so much with these things challenging my faith, so much as I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to respectfully and Biblically discuss my concerns.
I mention respectfully because I've got quite a temper at times and blogging really can lend itself well to shooting your mouth off. So as I've read for my English class I've sought, successfully I might add, to balance my reading with more specific time in Scripture, a devotional, and trying to find Christian authors that address the things I'm reading about. Beyond keeping me grounded, I've found that most of the time these authors are able to express things more clearly than I am able to, so I'm always on the look out for a great quote.
And you know what? This regiment has help me a lot. I'm growing spiritually, and my writing has been improving. My confidence in what I've written? Not so much. I'll finish an assignment, think it is pretty great while I still have it and the moment it leaves my hands I start worrying that it is awful. I've got to work on that. If I've done my best then I have to be content with however things turn out. And so far I really don't have any justification for the worry. The grades have been good/ great, yet I still worry.
Ah, but what is the point? What does my English class have to do with blogging? A lot, I think. The first day of class we had to write down a mini autobiography, and in it I had mentioned that it has been a long time since I've been in school. The teacher must have that in the back of her head because when I got an essay handed back to me today there was a note for me to see her after class.
Can we say heart attack?! Geez. The grade was decent, so I couldn't figure out why she'd want to talk to me about the essay. When I approached her to talk about the essay she said considering the time off the essay reads very well. I chuckled and admitted that I try to write at least once a week (you should see the drafts saved on my blog!) to keep my brain from turning to drivel that consists of Dora the Explorer reruns.
Yes, my friends, blogging is good for your brain!
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