Our one-year anniversary!
In two days, this blog will celebrate its one year anniversary. It's hard for me to believe and I stand in awe at all God has done in this past year - not only in the life of our family, but also through this blog and our website. God is good and all glory goes to Him for any encouragement or help or benefit or blessing you find from this blog.
In light of this "milestone," I spent a bit of time last night and today and put together some of my favorite posts and linked to them on the sidebar. If you are newer to this blog, you will enjoy perusing some of these, if you have a moment. Many of the oft-asked questions are answered in these posts. You probably won't agree with all of them (you might not agree with any of them!), but they are sure to make you think -- especially those that have a lot of follow-up commentary and input from readers. So, for those of you who have been requesting this for some time, enjoy!
Also, Mrs. B asked a few questions on her blog about blogging a few days ago and I thought I'd take a moment to answer them here. Would you be so kind as to take a moment and answer them as well? If you don't have a blog, just answer those you are able to. It is always fun to discover more about my readership!
1. How did you come to start reading blogs.
As some of you know, when I was 15, I had a small newsletter called Polished Cornerstones for Christian young women. What started out as a tiny newsletter, soon turned into an internationally-read newsletter and then a website (PolishedCornerstones.org) which hosted one of the first-ever Christian young ladies' message boards. This was back in the "dark ages" of the internet when many people didn't even have internet access or email. Those who did were on the slowest dial-up known to mankind. It's amazing to look back and realize how far technology has come.
Shortly before Jesse and I married, my website was graciously taken over by a friend of mine and re-christened Virtuous Womanhood. For about the next year, I was pretty absent from the online world. We planned our wedding, got married, and spent the next six months enjoying married life and preparing to move for Jesse to begin law school. Jesse and I only had free internet access through Juno for most of that time so with only 10 hours per month of internet access, I spent very little time online.
When we moved away from our friends and family, I slowly began re-connecting with the many women and young women I had met through my newsletter and website. I began frequenting the Virtuous Womanhood message board more and started toying with the idea of starting a website of my own. I started hearing about LiveJournals that various friends of mine on this message board had and so I signed up for an account so I could read a few of my friend's journals.
Near the end of my pregnancy, I finally caved and began my own LiveJournal. A few months later, I decided to stop posting on LiveJournal and start a joint-blog with my husband. I had not really read any blogs outside of LiveJournal up to this point, but I slowly started learning of them. After Jesse and I had our joint-blog for some time and I was doing about 90% of the posting, we decided it would probably be best if we split our blogs and I began my own in conjunction with our brand-new website/business Biblical Womanhood. It wasn't until I began my own blog in earnest, that I started discovering other blogs and bloggers and regularly reading them. Candy and Mrs. Happy Housewife were two of the first blogs that I started regularly reading. I've since found hundreds of wonderful blogs out there, but I try to limit my regular blog-reading on BlogLines to just a handful of the best of the best.
2. What led you to start your own blog (if you have one)?
Answered above mostly, but my main reasons for starting a blog were to have a forum for writing about various things I'm passionate about and also to share what is going on in our life so that those who are interested can keep up with us.
3. What is your favorite subject (or subjects--feel free to name more than one) to read about on someone else's blog?
I have such a wide variety of interests that it is hard for me to list just a few. I enjoy any well-thought-out, well-written, Biblical defense of beliefs which I hold near and dear. I enjoy hearing practical advice from older women and encouragement from other wives and moms in subjects like mothering, child-rearing, being a Godly wife, homemaking, frugality, and the like.
4. What do you hope to accomplish by having your blog?
First and foremost, I hope to glorify God and honor my husband. Second to this, I hope to encourage and build up other women in their God-given roles and expose the lies of feminism to an oft-blinded Christian culture. I also want to show the world the joy and fulfillment which I have in my life by seeking to honor the Lord, submit to my husband, and serve my family.
5. What have you learned from blogging?
A lot. :) I've learned more about feminism than I ever expected and have since been on a mission to expose its lies. I've learned that there are so many people who are so lost and needy and hurting and how my heart breaks for them. I've learned that there are so many Christians who are hungry for something other than "fluff." I've learned that no matter what I say, someone will always be offended. I've learned to love and respect and converse with people who believe very differently than me. Most importantly, I've learned that I have a lot to learn. I've learned that I cannot rely upon my own strength or my own wisdom, but must rely upon the Lord. That without Him, I am nothing.
6. How did you find my blog?
This was Mrs. B's last question and I thought I'd add it on here so that you can answer it. :)
In light of this "milestone," I spent a bit of time last night and today and put together some of my favorite posts and linked to them on the sidebar. If you are newer to this blog, you will enjoy perusing some of these, if you have a moment. Many of the oft-asked questions are answered in these posts. You probably won't agree with all of them (you might not agree with any of them!), but they are sure to make you think -- especially those that have a lot of follow-up commentary and input from readers. So, for those of you who have been requesting this for some time, enjoy!
Also, Mrs. B asked a few questions on her blog about blogging a few days ago and I thought I'd take a moment to answer them here. Would you be so kind as to take a moment and answer them as well? If you don't have a blog, just answer those you are able to. It is always fun to discover more about my readership!
1. How did you come to start reading blogs.
As some of you know, when I was 15, I had a small newsletter called Polished Cornerstones for Christian young women. What started out as a tiny newsletter, soon turned into an internationally-read newsletter and then a website (PolishedCornerstones.org) which hosted one of the first-ever Christian young ladies' message boards. This was back in the "dark ages" of the internet when many people didn't even have internet access or email. Those who did were on the slowest dial-up known to mankind. It's amazing to look back and realize how far technology has come.
Shortly before Jesse and I married, my website was graciously taken over by a friend of mine and re-christened Virtuous Womanhood. For about the next year, I was pretty absent from the online world. We planned our wedding, got married, and spent the next six months enjoying married life and preparing to move for Jesse to begin law school. Jesse and I only had free internet access through Juno for most of that time so with only 10 hours per month of internet access, I spent very little time online.
When we moved away from our friends and family, I slowly began re-connecting with the many women and young women I had met through my newsletter and website. I began frequenting the Virtuous Womanhood message board more and started toying with the idea of starting a website of my own. I started hearing about LiveJournals that various friends of mine on this message board had and so I signed up for an account so I could read a few of my friend's journals.
Near the end of my pregnancy, I finally caved and began my own LiveJournal. A few months later, I decided to stop posting on LiveJournal and start a joint-blog with my husband. I had not really read any blogs outside of LiveJournal up to this point, but I slowly started learning of them. After Jesse and I had our joint-blog for some time and I was doing about 90% of the posting, we decided it would probably be best if we split our blogs and I began my own in conjunction with our brand-new website/business Biblical Womanhood. It wasn't until I began my own blog in earnest, that I started discovering other blogs and bloggers and regularly reading them. Candy and Mrs. Happy Housewife were two of the first blogs that I started regularly reading. I've since found hundreds of wonderful blogs out there, but I try to limit my regular blog-reading on BlogLines to just a handful of the best of the best.
2. What led you to start your own blog (if you have one)?
Answered above mostly, but my main reasons for starting a blog were to have a forum for writing about various things I'm passionate about and also to share what is going on in our life so that those who are interested can keep up with us.
3. What is your favorite subject (or subjects--feel free to name more than one) to read about on someone else's blog?
I have such a wide variety of interests that it is hard for me to list just a few. I enjoy any well-thought-out, well-written, Biblical defense of beliefs which I hold near and dear. I enjoy hearing practical advice from older women and encouragement from other wives and moms in subjects like mothering, child-rearing, being a Godly wife, homemaking, frugality, and the like.
4. What do you hope to accomplish by having your blog?
First and foremost, I hope to glorify God and honor my husband. Second to this, I hope to encourage and build up other women in their God-given roles and expose the lies of feminism to an oft-blinded Christian culture. I also want to show the world the joy and fulfillment which I have in my life by seeking to honor the Lord, submit to my husband, and serve my family.
5. What have you learned from blogging?
A lot. :) I've learned more about feminism than I ever expected and have since been on a mission to expose its lies. I've learned that there are so many people who are so lost and needy and hurting and how my heart breaks for them. I've learned that there are so many Christians who are hungry for something other than "fluff." I've learned that no matter what I say, someone will always be offended. I've learned to love and respect and converse with people who believe very differently than me. Most importantly, I've learned that I have a lot to learn. I've learned that I cannot rely upon my own strength or my own wisdom, but must rely upon the Lord. That without Him, I am nothing.
6. How did you find my blog?
This was Mrs. B's last question and I thought I'd add it on here so that you can answer it. :)
posted by Crystal Paine at 2:19 PM
7 Comments:
Congratulations on your first year Crystal! I celebrated mine in March, and it does feel like a milestone, even if my life has become a little too busy sometimes to keep up with it as much as I'd like.
1. I started reading blogs because I'm DEEPLY fascinated with different kinds of people. I love learning about people and the different opinions they have, as well as their insight into different topics such as religion, culture, events, etc.
2. I too started in Live Journal while I was still in college. As I became more politically involved, I felt I needed an outlet for thoughts, as incohesive as they sometimes are. I found bloger, and here I am.
3. I have a vast vast array of different things that I'm interested in. I'm interested in religion, politics, the environment, alternative fuels, import car performance, reading, book buying, book preservation, vegetarianism, home decorating, movies, American history, art, graphic design, etc.
4. I think my focus is quite simple: to communicate and be communicated to. To learn and to answer life's mysteries. I know I'll never solve them all, but at least developing a viewpoint is a start.
5. I've LEARNED so much. A year ago I knew so much less about the interests I posted above. I didn't know Christian Reconstructionism existed, and I didn't know Vision Forum and that belief system existed. It's been a phenomenal growth to expand my knowlege of religion and faith in general, and I really hope to continue that.
6. When I discovered Vision Forum/Christian Reconstructionism...it was a link from a link from a link...something like that.
Congratulations again!
Jessica
Wow...One year, that's great!
1. I started reading blogs by accident. I happened to be looking on information on how to be a more biblical wife/mom/woman and just came across an amazing amount of blogs on this topic.
3. I'm interested in alot of things, but my priority is God and becoming the woman He desires me to be. I'm interested in history, poetry, horses, sewing and knitting. My hubby and daughters come next after God and I write about all of these things(or will) on my blog.
4. I want to reach out to others and give them encouragement as biblical women/wives/mothers. I want to give to my community in some way and this is a way that I can bring God to others.
5. I've learned that blogging isn't easy and sometimes I have nothing useful to say. But I've also learned that God uses me to reach someone and even if it is just one person...then I have done what I wanted.
6. I found your site/blog by browsing on Vision Forum and finding your link. Your's was the first blog that I looked at and I've loved coming here ever since. My hubby has probably heard me say "Crystal had this great post," more than you might think.
Blessings,
Sommer
I'm going to copy some of my answers that I typed to Mrs. B. Is that cheating? ;)
#1. I occasionally read the Xangas and blogs of a few friends over the past few years, but didn't really get much into blogging until the last year or so. I had read a few articles by you on Ladies Against Feminism, and visited your website Covenant Wedding Source. A while later I found out that you had started Biblical Womanhood, and I started reading this blog through that site. Actually, I read yours and Jesse's joint blog for a bit first. Hmmm. The details are a bit fuzzy. From there I started reading other blogs.
#2. I have so many thoughts in my brain that want to be expressed ;). Sometimes I run out of willing people to talk to in person, and writing is such an outlet for me. I also wanted to converse with like-minded people on subjects of interest.
#3. Scriptural and theology insights, God's working in people's lives, homemaking activities, Biblical womanhood, the daily lives of my blog friends :), math and other exciting school subjects
#4. I hope to fellowship with other Christians, learning from them and getting to know them. I also hope to encourage people in a small way as they see my best and worst sides. Lastly (these are in no particular order), I hope to satisfy the writing side of me, which is always making my fingers itch and my mind's wheels turn.
#5. Where do I begin? Yikes. I've learned some lessons in charitable ways to say (or not say) things. I've learned lessons in time management. I've been convicted of some areas of legalism in my life partially through some of my blog friends. I've developed my writing skills further. I've learned that you can feel really close to people you've never met!
#6. Once again, that's kind of fuzzy. I think at the bottom of one of your LAF articles you may have referenced your Confronting the Culture blog?
I loved reading your answers Crystal! Thanks for participating in my questionaire!
It was fun to read your entry, Jessica!
Thanks for commenting, Sommer. Must have been a link off a link off of VF because I don't think they link to little miniscule me anywhere. :)
Susan, no I'll take it -- not cheating in my book. :)
Mrs. B, glad I could do it for you!
Congratulations Crystal! Sorry it took me so long to post, but life has been very hectic. I haven't even post recently on my own blog :) Keep up the good work. And you are totally correct....Katherine in GORGEOUS!!!
1. How did you come to start reading blogs.
I really found out about blogs from the Biblical Womanhood Forum. I hadn’t really thought too much about them until then.
2. What led you to start your own blog (if you have one)?
I think mostly to give myself an outlet for my thoughts. Also, to offer support to those of like mind. It helps to know that while people may have different theological believe, there is much we agree on and edifying each other.
3. What is your favorite subject (or subjects--feel free to name more than one) to read about on someone else's blog?
I love reading about people surviving being single in a good and constructive manner. I love to hear about the battle between feminism and godly womanhood.
4. What do you hope to accomplish by having your blog?
Since is more a journal for me, I hope it will help me to contribute to my peace of mind and help to stay on the path God is leading me.
5. What have you learned from blogging?
To be patient. And how to recognize how truly subversive Satan is. How we as women are allowing him to redefine what should be truly important to us, to the destruction of our families.
6. How did you find my blog?
You know, I can’t remember, but I am very happy and truly thankful that I did. I have been inspired, humbled, corrected, supported and grown from my time on here. It is a true blessing!
I'll answer the last question. =) I found your blog from YLCF's courtship story index. Well, actually I found your Covenant Wedding source and then followed you from there. =D I've so enjoyed reading your blog and browsing your website!
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