Happy New Year friends and family! We begin a new year in anticipation of all God is going to do with us this year. In today’s blog, I have a few various items to interest you while you watch football or enjoy your day off – if that’s possible. First, a new year’s prayer. Then I want to reflect some on 2018 and share some goals for 2019. Thank you for the incredible, record-breaking year that just ended. I am humbled by the great things God has done through this labor of love known as kevincarson.com.
New Year’s Prayer
A New Year Prayer for you:
God,
Thank you for life. Thank you for eternal life. Whatever you bring this year, please help us honor you, love others, and be aware of You as we walk in Christ through it. Thank you for providing us grace in Christ that is equal to all our challenges. We pray for Your will to be done in 2019 and that we would humbly follow Your plan. Please work in us to become more like Christ as we seek to love and serve those around us.
In Jesus name,
Amen
A Record-Breaking 2018
As 2018 closed, so did another record-breaking year for this blog. Who would or could have imagined in 2014 when I started writing for my family, friends, church family, and community that the blog would grow as it has? It is overwhelming in fact. On a typical day, there are more readers now than an entire month in the early days. It is both fascinating and humbling in all honesty. Of the stats I looked at, this one struck me as funny: Total words for 2018 – 113,545.
From pastorkevinsblog.com to kevincarson.com
Due to a very generous gift from a close friend, we were able to transition the blog from pastorkevinsblog.com to kevincarson.com. We did that for a variety of specific reasons. Here are the two greatest. First, I had multiple people over the past few years contact me and ask if I would change the name of the site. They loved what they read but noticed friends they shared it with were hesitant to read it because of the term pastor. But pastor is one of my loves and passions. However, it is simply a title. The goal is serving people for God’s glory, and it does not take the title pastor to do that. Second, it is simply easier to share and remember by my name rather than remembering the term pastor and the word blog. For those two primary reasons, we switched this year. It still seems weird to have a website with my name associated with it.
One-Minute Mondays
In August, I launched a weekly blog called, “One-Minute Mondays.” This blog has been fun to write and motivational for many. The goal of Monday’s blogs is to provide a one-minute read that motivates the week ahead for my friends who are walking through life with me in this journey. They have been very popular and we will continue to write these in 2019.
Spanish Posts
There is an incredible need among Spanish-speaking Christians for good material. I have had a few friends take key blogs and translate them to Spanish. This past year several posts were written for that dear audience. We are trying to determine how to best expand this specific part of the blog’s ministry. We are grateful for the thousands who have read this year’s Spanish posts.
Blog Goals for 2019
Recently Bob Kellemen posted an article featuring this blog site and 11 others. He writes:
Tim Challies has been blogging and tweeting about the diminishing numbers of Christian bloggers. I’ve interacted with Tim a bit, suggesting that this may be due in part to the “franchising” of Christian blogs. As McDonalds and Wal-Mart have killed the “Mom and Pop Stores” by sheer size, so have the large organizational blogs overwhelmed the “Mom and Pop Blogs.”
By “organizational blogs,” think TGC, Desiring God, etc. People want to read those blogs, and bloggers want their writings featured on those organizational blogs.
This is not a criticism of these large organizational blogs.
So today’s blog is from one “Mom and Pop Blogger”—me, about other “Mom-and-Pop Biblical Counseling Bloggers.”
I’ve never been included on a list of “Mom and Pop Bloggers;” however, I appreciate the sentiment. This blog’s tagline is Walking together through life as friends in Christ sharing wisdom along the journey. Throughout the year, I write on a variety of issues that hopefully share wisdom along the journey of life as friends. The posts relate to serving others, Christian living, church life, community life, and other current issues of the day.
Here’s how Bob’s post particularly struck me yesterday. What makes a “Mom and Pop” store so needed in a particular community? It is the fact that they know their customers, they live with them, they know what they need, they share the same community, they experience the same pressures and concerns, and they do business with specific people in mind not just the masses.
Friends, I believe those are the exact same reasons I enjoy blogging for the glory of God and the benefit of my family, my church family, my friends, those that are in Christ, and my community. Although this “Mom and Pop” blog has expanded its borders and will continue to grow by God’s grace, I am as committed as ever to write for those with whom I walk in the journey of life – a common person writing for common people who need God’s wisdom along the journey. Wisdom to live. Wisdom to serve. Wisdom to share.
I cannot express the joy I have walking through our community and having people say how a specific blog, thought, word shared, or the blog in general has blessed them. Many times in stores, at restaurants, on the sidewalk, at church, and generally living in this community, people have thanked me for the content and effort. The fact that these people have been blessed, served, comforted, encouraged, or otherwise benefited is humbling and joy-producing. I’ve heard from those considering suicide, who have chosen to get help. Those who are suffering, who have been comforted. Those who need wisdom, who have received it.
Will the readership expand? Will the audience grow? Will there be even more opportunities in 2019? I do not know. Those are not the issues that drive me and this blog. Instead, what drives me is the desire to honor God while seeking to bless in some way those I know as we walk together through life. If that audience gets larger, praise the Lord! If it does not, then praise the Lord I can bless those that do read it.
In Case You Missed It…
This is a busy time of year. In case you missed them, I have included a few posts that may bless you as you contemplate the new year ahead.
Anticipation (1-Minute Mondays):
Over my lifetime, one of the those most anticipated days is New Year’s Day. The excitement and sobriety of beginning a new year is incredible. Just this week, I’ve talked with an engaged couple, expectant parents, seniors in high school, and one waiting for a contract to begin. Of course, not all are positive like those mentioned. Some anticipate those negative things ahead.
For the Christian though, there is one thing to anticipate above all others….
2 Key Questions to End Your Year – or Begin Your Year:
As this year quickly comes to an end, the calendar provides an opportunity to take inventory of our lives. The subject of the inventory varies for each individual person. Possibly you may consider your health, vocation, relationships, education, or finances, among many other things. As a follower of Christ, do not neglect to assess your spiritual condition.
Wise people learn to ask key questions regarding their own walk with God….