Why I Stopped Blogging

Hello out there!!!

I have thought SO much about you and prayed for you over these silent months. I’ve really missed the small community we shared through SmellingCoffee.com, and have longed to reinvest in it for some time.  The truth is that I’m struggling to find my way back to blogging.   It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, because I do!  And, it’s not because of the time it takes to write each day. I love the writing.

May I be honest? What has made me hesitate in returning to blogging is that over the last few years especially, blogging has become a business.  That’s not a bad thing… it’s just never what I intended when SmellingCoffee.com was created. Ten years ago {back in the early days} for me, blogging was an online journal… a way to share what God was doing in and around our lives, in hopes that He would use it in some way to encourage or bless others.  It was a sweet community and I’m so thankful to have been a part of it.

But eventually, as businesses began being built around blogging, mom-bloggers like me found ourselves at a crossroad.  Would we adapt and compete, or shut down?  I have spent the better part of the last three years wrestling, praying, researching, reading, seeking advice, and asking some tough questions like:

• Do I have anything to say that readers would find valuable today?
• Can I still have a voice in this blog-and-social-media-saturated world?
• Should I sell something on the blog in order to pay for its upkeep?
• Should I insistently promote this platform – – so that people would be drawn to my blog – – so that I could sell them something in order to pay for its upkeep?
• Can I do everything that is required these days to run a successful blog?
• Am I willing to do what it takes to make this blog succeed?
• Can I still serve Jesus and SmellingCoffee.com readers through this avenue?
• Can I humbly write {and promote} helpful and encouraging content with pure motives?

There are SO many “I’s” in the statements above! Ugg! For me, the more important question should be not what I can do, but “What would God have me do?”

• What would the Lord would have me do with this platform He has given me?
• Does He still want to use SmellingCoffee.com?

Though I don’t have all of the answers, after much prayer what I do know is that the Lord is not through with SCC, so I will joyfully get back to blogging.

I’ve taken some blog classes and read some blog books and have done a little updating on the site where I could.  It’s still a work in progress with a long way to go, but because this blog belongs to Jesus, I’m trusting Him to help me continue and complete what He started over ten years ago.

So… welcome!  (Or welcome back!) It’s my deepest prayer that everyone who visits SmellingCoffee.com will be strengthened and encouraged by the Lord through posts about faith, family, food, fun, life, love, and living it all through the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

I’ll be back soon with a give-away, some encouragement, and new holiday helps.  In the meantime, I’m praying for each reader and would love to hear back from you.