Month: April 2012

[Tamara Out Loud Guest Posts] The Simple Work of Your Hands: Seeing Your Blog as Ministry

Today is the last day of the two-month Spiritual Guidance for Bloggers Series. To me, this was by far the most satisfying, collaborative, and helpful series on this blog to date. Friendships were forged and relationships deepened in creating this series…the purpose of which was to help guide us through the difficult terrain of the blogosphere. To make us wiser and more thoughtful as we do what we do.

So many amazing bloggers shared their personal stories and practical advice. So much high-quality reading offered by so many gifted authors and sterling people. What an honor and grace to have them here. The response from readers and friends pleasantly surprised me, and injected a new hope that we can do right by this medium. Integrity and virtue is possible in this digital “wild west”. And better still, the will is there to do so.

You may have missed a few articles, but no worries. Clicking the category #4Bloggers will list them all for you. It’ll be an evergreen resource of guidance for your blogging efforts, and an encouragement if you run into a blockade. Simply come back, re-read, relearn, or absorb the wisdom and inspiration from others, anytime. May it bless you!

Tomorrow is the beginning of something new and exciting! (The spread-the-word before the launch <giveaway> with Rafflecopter is part of that. Enter and enjoy the free ebook. Your chances of winning other stuff are excellent.)

And now to our final entry by the vivacious Tamara Lunardo (@tamaraoutloud)

Tamara Lunardo

Tamara Lunardo works out her thoughts on life and faith at Tamara Out Loud, occasionally with adult language, frequently with attempted humor, and hopefully with God’s blessing. She is the editor of What a Woman is Worth, due out this summer through Civitas Press. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook!

The Simple Work of Your Hands: Seeing Your Blog as Ministry

-by Tamara Lunardo

“You see your blog as a ministry, don’t you?” he asked, assuming. I’d been blogging for about a year, but I’d never considered it that way til that moment. “Ministry” sounded a bit too grandiose for something so mundane as a blog.

I just used an online space to tell my stories. I didn’t preach the Gospel; I didn’t heal the sick; I didn’t tend to widows and orphans. I just noticed and I thought and I felt and I wrote. And people came to that space to take in a little of life as I saw it, to laugh and wonder and cry alongside me.

But I realized this writing, it was a gift—not something I’d conjured, but something I was given. The gift was meant for the glory of its Giver and for the good of His people. And as I used it, imperfectly but faithfully, I could see that gift turn into ministry: The people who were reading told me that I was writing things they wished they could say; or that it gave them new perspective; or that it made them laugh (and this last is no small thing).

They didn’t need me to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, or tend to widows and orphans—they needed me to tell my stories.

Ministry is not a grandiose thing. It is a humble service, born of a grateful heart. It is a showing up just exactly where God’s placed you and saying, “I’m here to help.” It is His extraordinary gift made manifest by the simple work of your hands.

And He has not placed me in a pulpit to preach the Gospel, but He has placed me in an online space to tell the truth. He has not given me skill to heal the sick, but He has given me laughter to share as medicine. He has not given me resources to tend to widows and orphans, but He has given me stories to meet others in theirs.

And I am grateful; I am here to help. So I type out words, the simple work of my hands. And it is ministry.

Don’t be afraid

If there was one resource I could give you to help you see out your calling, or finish that great project idea you have, or beat what’s holding you back, it would be this book below.

And I can do that. If you enter the giveaway (that obnoxious looking Rafflecoptor block up there on the right) you could win $50, making this book free and four more besides.

Don’t be afraid to succeed, and don’t be afraid to fail.

What do you hope to accomplish? 

What Ligers Taught Me About Blogging

Liger2
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: M Sullivan via Compfight

Several thousand people arrive at my blog each month because of Ligers.

But maybe you’ve noticed that this isn’t a blog about Ligers. Actually, I rarely feature any big cats, or animals of any kind.

But for the magic of SEO, and Google, they come, massive web traffic, visitors in search of Liger related who-knows-what. If you google “name the liger” I’ll be the first entry.

People want to know if they’re real, or if Napoleon Dynamite was on to something about their skillz in magic. Maybe they want to see one up close. The Myrtle Beach Wildlife Reserve had a baby liger they were showing off, so boom! Liger fans. It’s all been a big flippin’ mistake…

Truth be told, I like Ligers. There’re pretty much my favorite animal. Back in 2010, on a lark I decided that a Liger would be a nice mascot here. After all, I’m a mixed breed myself. I popped up a post about it. “Name the Liger” I said. And still they come.

Lots of useless traffic…Or was it?

Instead of staying frustrated by this feline epic #fail, or even….well…you know being embarrassed by all the ligerish corniness, I decided employ some “Liger Leverage”.

See? They’re magic after all.

I just repurposed the post. In a spirit of general generosity, I worked on giving people something they were looking for.

I linked to the news some readers no doubt wanted about the wildlife reserve, I added some Liger info, and linked to a helpful resource with detailed information and stats on these and other hybrid felines. And I also added an invitation for [errant] visitors to poke around the rest of the site…you know for other flipping’ sweet stuff.

Guess what? In just two weeks, my bounce rate dipped about 35%! (That’s the stat that shows that people notice they’ve gone to the wrong place and click away quickly.) I might have even gained some regular readers.

Are people visiting your blog for the wrong reasons?
It turns out you can redeem the mistake. Use Liger Leverage!

Guest Posting on Life, Jazz, God, and Donald Miller

(screen grab of an upcoming video)

Excerpt:

 

“There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. (They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.) And as I lay there, it occurred to me that God is up there somewhere.”
― Donald Miller

 

We’re inclined to think that life is like Jazz: Random, but somehow, making strange and beautiful music. So much of life doesn’t jive. The harmony is lacking and the beat is off. We imagine God somewhere up beyond outer space, holding the earth–and all things–in his hands, and letting the jazz of the universe play on. What are we to do with all that jazz?

(BONUS: Here is a great audio document on her majesty Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”. Her improv (scat) is pitch-perfect and sounds a lot like a clarinet.)

Check out the rest of the post I did on Ed Cyzewski’s blog today.

If you like it, you’ll LOVE Volume 5 of my ebook, God’s GRAND Story.
More details and a snazzy video coming soon.

For info updates and a free volume just sign up.

Subscribe to get 3 Volumes for Creators & Communicators (free) 

Ebook Launch Giveaway [with cash prize]

UPDATE:
This promo is over but all the volumes are now in 1 digital book!