In which I realize the blog is 6 months old

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Single Threads is half a year old!!! And to celebrate, here's the top 5 things I've learned since taking the plunge. Keep reading, and you'll find some pretty cool blog stats too! 
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So you want to write a devotional blog? You'll need...

1. A cheerleader

Cuz sometimes you're not gonna want to write. Or the idea will be there, but you'll find the words are huddled tightly together in some small yurt in Antarctica: oh so far away from your poised hands and the blue glow of your screen.

At that time, you'll need someone to burst upon you with pom-poms waving and lungs belting some corny personalized cheer. REALLY. Like this recent email from a friend: "bated breath waiting for tomorrow's article." That's all it said. And my heart did that happy skip thing. No matter if I've wrestled for 3 hours with this thing already, I thought. Someone's waiting for it. 

Get a few of these bated-breath people. They really help. 

2. An "easily blessed" attitude

We had just watched a whopper "sermonic egg" being laid in chapel. My undergrad classmates and I sat in our lecture hall ready to pounce all over the speaker with merciless critique. Practically licking our chops. Then our professor walks in, draws himself up to his lanky height... and quietly says, "When it comes to the Word of God, be easily blessed." You could have heard a pin drop as those words sunk in. I never forgot that challenge. What a mindset to apply to all of life!

As a blogger there's this constant pressure to hurl words into the vast reaches of cyber-space oblivion. And nothing will fill the what-to-write-on-next void like thoughts that are bent on being easily blessed. Reading the Bible, observing the world, interacting with people...do it with a heart that anticipates blessing. You'll never lack inspiration. 

3. A thick skin

Because someone's going to misunderstand what you write. And feedback will weasel inside you and eat away until there's nothing left but a keyboard clutching skeleton. Ain't nobody wants THAT. 

So grow a thick skin. One with a healthy layer of "thinking no evil." With a cell structure of "esteeming others better than yourself." With poochy blubber of brotherly-love-continuing. With that skin, you'll be insulated enough to warmly consider misunderstanding. (Instead of letting it eat away at your very existence.)   

4. A short- term memory

At some point you'll look back on your past writings and find they've dissolved into moldy heaps of garbage. This will cause a full-body sweat. Did I write that? Certainly NOT. And the real clincher: Who READ that?

Because as humans, we're constantly changing. And as Christians, that change should be from glory to glory. A clearer reflection of Christ today than we were yesterday. A richer dwelling of the Word of God in us. This change is good. 

So press on. Press forward. To some extent it's healthy to forget what we've done in the past. Reach forward to those things that are before. They are better. And there will always be fresh grace. 

5.  A collection of sturdy storehouses, preferably as wide as football fields and several stories high. You'll need them to hold all the blessings. 

Because you can't predict where God will wing it

I had no idea that Single Threads would spread to TEN different countries with a faithful readership in seven of them. Over four THOUSAND page views. (no, they're not all my Mom. I checked.) And so many messages testifying of what God is doing with these simple thoughts. 

Because you'll increase your interaction with a living book 

Want to nail down what you believe? Start writing it out in a way that has to be clear for others. In a way that has to be Biblically clear. 

Now the blog has me digging deep and finding out how sure my belief is. It's got me thinking "what does God say about this?" when I normally wouldn't. There's been a lot of tasting and seeing at God's table the last six months, and it's added a rich 'fatness' to my life I didn't know was lacking. Blessings indeed.

Because you're working a work God loves

I love to write about what God is teaching me in life. Love. It. 
But six months ago I realized I would not let God use this thing I loved. Not let Him wing it where He would. I wouldn't share it because, well, it didn't fit my standard of perfect. Certainly no shades of Elisabeth Elliot or Nancy Leigh DeMoss around here. Why bother?

Start a blog and people will rush out of the woodwork screaming, "I am NOT a blogger!!!" I get this. But every believer has an active role to play in God's work. Every 'joint' is to supply something that will make increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Wrestle with your role. Figure out what you love to do, and do it for the Body of Christ. Hold it out for the Lord to use. God will be well pleased. He loves this work. He laid down His life for it. 

And...who knows where it will find you six months from now. :)

Beth 

It IS worth it

If you missed last week's post Is it worth it as a single? you may want to take a look before reading on. And, after you get over the shock and wonder that I've learned how to embed a link...enjoy this week's response! It IS worth it...

To stay physically pure.

Listen closely to this world's song and you'll hear counter melodies of heartache, disillusion, depression, and destruction. How do I know? My Bible tells me. Over and over again. Says that no one even leans toward sexual sin and goes unscathed. But happy is the man who stays off this ungodly path. And for those who flee, abstain, and avoid physical impurity? The lavish, constant, blessings of obedience. Worth it. 

To prepare well, come early, stay late, and listen long for the body of Christ's sake.

Friends, we can't even offer a dinky cup of water without His notice. When we give for Christ's sake, He considers it as done unto Him. (think about that!) So mound your altar with precious time and valuable strength...lay down the gifts and resources unique to you. Your return? It will have to be pressed down and shaken together for you to contain it. And even then it will pour over the rim of your life. Worth it. 

To walk through hardships unique to singleness while hoping in God.

My 'hard things' are gonna be different than yours. But we do share an invitation to come boldly before the throne of grace to find help. A welcome to pour out our hearts before Him and find He is a refuge. The sure promise that if we "hope in God" we will yet be praising Him. 

And however life pulls and twists you, nothing unravels that connection. "The cable, though unseen, bears the heavy strain between." Your anchor will hold. There is nothing more secure. Worth it to bank your hope on this in hardship? Yes.   

To train 'free' times for spiritual growth.

A day in His presence is better than a thousand. That's 1,000. And the more you pause long enough to taste and see, the more you'll find His goodness. What for those who meditate on His law day and night? They stop just doing life, and start to flourish like trees planted by rivers of water. Worth it? Most definitely. 

(Congratulations! You're half way through!) 

To wrestle with what it means to "care for the things of the Lord."

Paul didn't say, "just wait til you're married, that's when life really starts to count." Rather, he points out what only singles can do for the kingdom of God: "Care for the things of the Lord, how you can please Him." Wow. 

Doesn't matter if I'm in ministry, school, secular job, in between jobs, dating, not dating, sick, healthy, young, ah...not so young, nothing outside of marriage changes those marching orders. Friends, we are not misfits in God's plan. We have been given our very own task in the Kingdom of God. Worth it to fulfill that? Oh my, yes.   

To stay emotionally pure.

When I was young, I spent countless hours in the woods building and maintaining my fort. And after making 'coffee' and mud cookies, the Indians would come. We would have long talks about the woods and God. And I'd work hard to ignore their sharp, blood spattered weapons. This was the perfect imaginary world. I controlled it. Never mind that it wasn't real. 

Emotional attachments are like that. I'm attracted to someone and suddenly there's this imaginary world where glances, words, social media activity and more get pressed into this story playing in my head. It's a love story. And in a way, I control it because I interpret it. 

But Philippians 4:8 says, "Think on things that are true." Worth it to place my mind on what I know is true in each situation and thus guard my heart? Yes. Because, honestly, no one wants to live in this lah-lah land where we end up hurting ourselves and others. I want reality. An accurate view of life. No distortion. One that shows me how God is truly at work in life. And when I "think on these things" that's what I get.      

To pursue situations where selfishness will be exposed. 

You know that beautiful picture of Christ in Philippians 2? It's sandwiched between commands to esteem others better than ourselves, and work out Christ's example in our own salvation. I find one of my greatest motivations here.

This passage shows me God's eye is trained on those who humble themselves for others. And if Christ isn't enough, take Paul and Timothy's example in the following verses. In God's economy, that humility is worthy of high exultation. I want to live in Philippians 2, friends. It's worth it. 

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Only my Bible can bear the heavy weight of these questions. And although the passages that form your foundation may look different than mine, make sure they are the actual stuff of your foundation. You need not fear disappointment in doing this:

It's worth it. 

Beth

Is it worth it as a single?

To stay physically pure?

Purity can be a difficult song to sing for singles of all ages. The world blasts the melody of unrestrained physical license in our ears all the live long day. And it's a catchy tune. One that can haunt us even in times of sweet communion with God. Is it really worth it to learn God's standards of purity and follow them?

To prepare well, come early, stay late, and listen long for the body of Christ's sake?

Think about your Sunday and midweek services for a moment. As a single, you can throw your strength into certain ministries by arriving early (no family to get out the door), staying late (no one to get home), listening long to fellow believers (no distractions to your attention), and preparing well for music, teaching, hospitality, nursery etc....and those who are married quite frankly cannot give that way. You can pour yourself out for the body of Christ (and not even just on church days). But is it worth it? 

To wrestle with what it means to "care for the things of the Lord?"

I mean, what was Paul thinking when he wrote that? Didn't he know the quatrillion details of living life that a single must slodge through every day with no one by their side? And yet 1 Corinthians 7 assumes that caring for the things of the Lord will be a distinguishing characteristic of men and women who are unmarried. Is it worth it to wrestle with what that should look like? 

To stay emotionally pure?

His name was Jason. I was 12 years old. He was tall, dark, broad shouldered, and acne pocked. A two legged dreamboat. I blush to think of the long hours I spent thinking of our future together, and the special relationship we had (never mind that it existed solely in my brain). Oh the thrill of meeting his gaze at Wednesday night teen meetings, and how I forced every word he spoke through the sieve of "he loves me, he loves me not"... 

I wish I could say it never happened again. But, although it's become more subtle and perhaps a bit less hormone-driven with age, I still do regular battle with keeping myself emotionally pure. The fact is, we have no right to someone else (even in our mind) until we have their ring on our finger. Is it worth it to keep ourselves free from these emotional attachments? 

To train 'free' times for spiritual growth?

A married friend once told me: "One thing I miss about singleness is all the discretionary time I had to spend in prayer and Bible reading." And, I'll admit, my initial reaction was an inward guffaw that may have erupted as a snort/cough. Why? 

Because as a single, we do have pockets of "free" time that marrieds don't. But I'll be honest, when I have a free hour my first reaction is not to reach for my Bible or bow my head in prayer. And yet, that is my unique privilege as a single. Is it really worth it to train some of these only-in-singleness-moments for my spiritual growth? 

To hope in God while walking through hardships unique to being single?

We all know what they are. Those trials only singles walk through. Hard things. Struggles others would rather not know about, and don't "get" when we try to explain. Is it worth it to have faith in God through these things? 

To pursue situations where selfishness will be exposed? 

Most likely, if you're single you have fewer things in your life to "aid" in confronting and rooting out selfishness. I mean, we get to go to bed and wake up of our own.free.will. people! And the tendency can be to avoid putting ourselves in relationships or situations where we're going to have to prefer the things of someone else before ourselves. Is it worth it to seek out situations that will confront our selfishness? 

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This is Beth's take on a cliff-hanger (aka: there's no way I can do justice to each of these questions without making this post ridiculous in its length.) So I leave you to ponder these questions. How would you respond to each one? How have you answered them in your own life? 

And Lord willing, I will share my own conclusions and their firm foundation next week. I'll give you a sneak preview though: 

YES.

Beth