To Blog or Not to Blog. (Colossians 1.1-2)

Wow. I feel sorta like my former PreK student who picked up a pencil to trace his name on dotted lines for the first time and said, "Okay, here it goes!" I've been wrestling with the question "to blog or not to blog" for a long time now. It seems pretty arrogant, ya know? And dangerous. And yet, as I've toggled between praying about it and over-analyzing it, I'm confident it is the right time. Let me share one example:

This morning I was over-analyzing the idea of starting a blog, while trying to focus on the book of Colossians. Dan has decided to try to memorize it (Colossians, that is), and something in me just can't let him do that without me doing it too. So this morning I read it through, and thought I'd knock out the first couple verses. If you've read the New Testament much, you know that the first couple verses of any book are pretty much just, "Hello - How ya doin' - This is me, writing to you." So I set out to memorize the following deep truths :) --

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

But I couldn't stop thinking about blogging, namely all the reasons not to. To sort out my thoughts, I listed in my journal any motivations in favor of it - sharpening my writing skills; connecting/communicating with Journey girls; processing truths He's teaching me. I put my pen down, glanced back at my Bible, and asked the Lord to show me in Scripture if He wants me to blog or not. I firmly believe there is no question too silly to ask the Lord, but I almost chuckled on the inside imaging some verse in Hezekiah saying "Thou shalt blog." Almost chuckled, but didn't. He is faithful, and my only hope in making any positive decision in my life, big or small, is Him speaking to me through His Word.

Back to Colossians, as I wrote those greeting verses over and over again on the other page of my journal (as a memorization tool), it suddenly began to dawn on me that there may be more to these words than I first gave them credit for: 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God...

- Paul is secure in who he is by the will of God. He isn't arrogant, yet totally and completely secure. Right out of the gate, he speaks with authority - not because of his personality, upbringing, discipline or social status, but because of the will of God. Who am I by the will of God? Paul was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. By the will of God, I am the wife of Dan, the mom of our three girls, and the leader of the young women of The Journey. By the will of God, these are my ministries - the things that only I can do. And I have security in that, not because of anything in me or about me, but because of the will of God.

To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse...

- Out of that security in who he is by the will of God, Paul is then able to encourage others with statements of who they are in Christ. Because of Christ's substitutionary death for the Colossian believers, they are declared holy in the sight of God, and because of the Holy Spirit's work they are continuing to be made holy in their lives. What an incredible encouragement to have Paul speak over you this pronouncement in a casual greeting, that you ARE, in Christ, HOLY, and FAITHFUL, and BROTHERS! How am I encouraging the Colossians in my life? How often do I talk to Dan, our girls, and the women of The Journey about who they are in Christ?

Grace and peace to you from God our Father...

- Am I imparting God's grace and peace to all those to whom I speak? It is the opening and ending of every letter of Paul's and Peter's. Is it the opening and ending of my every conversation? My NIV Study Bible note goes so far as to explain, "This greeting is echoed in the conclusions of Paul's and Peter's letters, so that these letters stand framed in what amounts to an apostolic benediction on those who are addressed" (emphasis mine). In other words, their every word of encouragement, admonishment, instruction and discipline, as least those we have recorded in the New Testament, are all wrapped up in a huge and mighty prayer to God on behalf of the people they're talking to... for Him to pour out His grace and peace on them. Wow. Not really sure I wanna compare my conversations this week with that.

Suddenly I realized He'd already answered my prayer, before I even prayed it. (Which is, by the way, one the very most coolest things God does, in my opinion.) I just read this morning in Colossians chapter four, "Make the most of every opportunity..." and was reminded of the message yesterday from Acts 16 to take advantage of every spiritual opportunity. He turned the tables and asked of me not "To blog or not to blog," but "To take advantage of an opportunity to impart grace and peace to anyone listening" or "to NOT take advantage of an opportunity to impart grace and peace to anyone listening." So I just wrote my first blog post. In deep, yearning prayer that God our Father will pour out His grace and His peace on absolutely anyone and everyone who stumbles here.

Having written slow scrawly lines connecting the dots that made up his name, that PreK student looked up with a smile and asked, "Can I go play now?"