I’ve had several different blogs over the years, each corresponding roughly with a different season in my life. Sometimes I miss the old days of blogging, when it was more like keeping a diary – a place to work through your thoughts and share life events. Now it feels more like each blog post needs to be a standalone, neatly wrapped package where knowledge is presented to an audience. 

There are pros and cons to each approach, I suppose.

Blogging as personal reflection is easier to create – you just type what’s on your mind, and put it out there. But one downside I found was the realisation that people I only knew peripherally knew some of my deepest thoughts.  That is to say, it didn’t foster real relationships, only one-sided catharsis. 

Blogging as the presentation of information, on the other hand, is more time-consuming to produce – I plan out topics I could write about, labour over my words carefully, and create graphics to go along with the posts for social media sharing. But for all the hard work, I feel that the payoff comes in being of better service to my readers – I’m putting something out there that helps, informs and encourages, rather than just my own musings. 

I started this blog in 2020, right at the peak of the first Covid lockdown. And though I had been planning and preparing before then, starting it at that time meant that two things were quite different to my usual life:

• I had more time available. Okay, maybe I’m looking back with rose-coloured glasses, because I do remember feeling really stressed… But there was definitely a simplifying of life that happened due to all outside commitments being cancelled suddenly. So even amidst the challenges of school from home and work from home, there was more time in my schedule to sit at the computer and write. 
• I had more mental space for thinking through things and writing about them. Now, I feel like preparing and delivering homeschool lessons takes up almost all of my mental space. And I do love it, but at the end of the day, I feel spent – I don’t want to sit and continue thinking and writing. I want to give my brain a break.

So as time has gone on since I started this blog, I’ve noticed it looking a little neglected. The paint is starting to chip off and the dust is gathering. Sometimes I feel sad about this. I have so many ideas and blog drafts stored up that just haven’t come to fruition. But when I reflect on how I spend my time each week and the things God has put on my plate, I don’t feel so sad about the state of this blog.

Why am I writing about this? Many of you are not bloggers, but I bet you also have creative hobbies or dreams or other projects that are sitting sadly neglected to the side. Maybe you feel frustrated that you haven’t had the time to spend on these things… Maybe you look at other women and wonder how they manage to do “it all” when you are barely surviving… 

If that’s where you’re at, I want to encourage you not to see these hobbies and dreams as sadly neglected, but as faithfully – joyfully, even – neglected. Look at all the good things God has called you to for now, and look at how he has faithfully enabled you to do them. And remember that your purpose in life is to enjoy God and glorify Him forever – your purpose is from Him and for Him. 

Let me share with you 10 things I’ve prioritised over blogging over the last little while:

1. Reading the Bible and Praying
2. Serving others
3. Homeschooling my kids
4. Teaching in our homeschool co-op
5. Running and exercise
6. Nature walks with my kids
7. Investing in relationships
8. Making food
9. Cleaning and organising the house
10. Reading and listening to books

Those are just some of the things I’ve spent my time on. If you’re in a stage where you’re feeling frustrated at not achieving some of the things you wanted, you might like to write a little list of your own…

Write down all the things you’ve spent time on each day for a week. Ask God to reveal whether there are any areas of your life that need change. And praise Him for all the good things he has given you to do, and the strength he gives you to do them! Remember whose you are, and what you were made for.