To Blog Or Not To Blog - What's The Big Deal?

I was informed by the BBM yesterday that there was a specific reason he made it a requirement for me to write blogs. He informed me last week that I was three blogs behind and I had not realized he was keeping track. I had been keeping track. I knew I was behind, but I also thought it wasn't a big deal if I didn't complete them all... they're just blogs.

What is so important about blogging anyways? What are blogs for?
Why do we blog?

1. To communicate. To share our ideas, thoughts and resources with one another.

2. To share stories. It is beneficial for others to hear what pain, frustrations and victories we have and face. It can be of great encouragement to those who are in the midst of their own battles and triumphs. It is also beneficial for ourselves to share our stuff.
Shelley ended one of her blogs back in July with a statement that really impacted me. Paraphrasing she said, that being a witness to Jesus is about being open with our lives and inviting people to see into our struggles, hurts, lessons learned, joys and gifts.

3. To have a voice. We all have things to say. We all have good days and bad days, times when we don't know where we're at in our heads and hearts. We all have God moments or moments of truth, as some may put it. We all have different perspectives on how we see and feel about what's going on in our world and the world at large. These are valuable things to share.

This leads me to my final point, which I think is the reason Rob is adamant about me blogging.

4. Our person has value. This means what we do, what we think, what we use, how we feel, how we are, who we are... these things are important and hold such great value we need to share them with others.

So, you're thinking, "well yah Genevieve, that's obvious". Well, the thing is, I have a love hate relationship when it comes to blogging. (This happened in university in Dan's class as well.) I want to blog because I enjoy writing, but unless what to write about is obvious I never know what to write.
Rob is always pointing out things I could blog about and I think he's crazy, "I can't write about that," I say...

Why?

Because someone might disagree with me (which means I'm wrong -in my head).
People would know how I really feel or think (which makes me vulnerable).
I might offend or hurt someone (which would make them mad at me, which means they don't like me -in my head).
Who really cares about what I think anyways (shut-up youstis! - the name Sarah Compton gave her negative inner voice and shared at the 2008 Women's Retreat).

Rob said to me this morning that it's generally not our stories/messages that people remember, it's everything that makes up our stories and how we choose to tell them -the stories within the Story. How we interact with our family, what we do for fun, what challenges us, what we do when we're sad, what books we read, what movies we watch or don't watch, what inspires us, what makes us mad, what is our art.

All these things reveal pieces of who we are as individuals. Each one is an expression of the uniqueness God has put in us and shows how we are choosing to form our journey's.

Why is it important for me to blog? Because it challenges me to look for the value within my environment, my community and most importantly the value I have within myself - all of the elements that make up who I am are valuable and worth sharing with others.

Having this knowledge move from my head and root itself in my heart is a big part of my journey.