Overcoming

As much as I love to write, and I do, there are days I am either too busy or I procrastinate over inspiration.  This is one of those times.  Why do I blog?  The answer is simple and yet very complex.  The simple answer is I do love to write and it gives me pleasure.  There are days I look at the blank whiteness of a word processing screen and almost squeal with delight.  It nears the experience of a beautiful piece of Godiva chocolate about to touch my lips and my tongue.  Yes, I love to write.

I have had many “words” from prophetic people about writing books.  I get lots of comments about these books I am going to write from friends and strangers as well.  The other day I was on a plane.  My flight had been cancelled and I found myself on my way to the nation’s capital to make connections.  Spying the young man I would sit next to, I thought well, he won’t be a talker.  I never get talkers next to me on planes.  I rather like it when someone talks.  It makes the time go faster unless of course they are a wacko.  He told me after an hour and half of conversation that he wasn’t a talker.  He wasn’t a wacko either.  

During this time we shared our lives in that odd way that people do at times with strangers.  As the plane was descending into D.C.,  I shared the two sentence version of last week’s blog.  He said, “You’re Oprah!”  I laughed and said I wished I had her money.  He said “YOU should write a book.”  I told him I blogged.  I didn’t tell him I was afraid of writing a book that wouldn’t get enough exposure to be read.  Blogging is the warm up for a book.

As a kid, at Sunday night services we’d have a “testimony service.”   The saints would rise to declare what God had done.  Some were simple and oft repeated.  “I thank the Lord for His full salvation, full and free.”  Or “God has been so good, I just want to praise Him.”  Others would involve a long detailed story of a miraculous event – sometimes simple like the right item being in the store when they got there or complex like a healing or a last minute miraculous provision of just the right amount money, down to the penny, for a bill.  My blogging is a virtual testimony service.  I share the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Mostly I share about God’s grace. 

The scripture talks about “overcoming by the word of their testimony.”  I have a rather long complex testimony of grace.  I am compelled to share it.  The compulsion comes from a sense that there are other people dealing with the depths and sorrows of life that can find hope in the truth of God’s love, mercy, and grace in my testimony.

I oft complain about a lack of ministry.  When I do someone will try to console me by saying,” but Joyce, your blog is touching so many people, it is your pulpit.”  To that, I shrug in disbelief and skepticism.  The numbers say it is read, not with overwhelming numbers, but it is read.  Given to realism, I’ll reply:  “Yes, but they don’t stay and read, they are just googled one of the tag lines.” 

As I was looking for the inspiration to write this blog this morning, I received two comments on Sounds of Hope.  They were for blogs written over a year ago.  It was from a woman who had “stumbled on my blog by accident.”  She was looking for images of Columbia Missouri.  You can read her comment at the bottom of this blog entry.  She said she’d read lots of the blog.  She said she had a daughter with the same name as the one whose birth and near death chronicled on that blog entry.  As she read, she found herself thanking God for my testimony.  Wow… I guess it is read and touches people after all?!

My blog is how I overcome?  How about you? How do you overcome?