#FiveForFriday – Favorite Blogs

It’s Friday and that means another installment of “Five for Friday,” my version of my favorite things. Today I’m listing my five favorite blogs.

There are thousands of blogs in cyberspace. Maybe hundreds of thousands. I love to read, but I only subscribe and regularly absorb only a handful, because it would be sooooo easy to spend all day and all night reading other people’s insightful (but sometimes downright stupid) writings. The following is a list of my favorites…in no order and in no relation to one another.

The Leadership Freak blog arrives in my email inbox every single day. Dan Rockwell is a leadership genius but the reason this blog is one of my favorites, which I read every day, is because he writes this blog every day. Without fail. Even on Christmas and Easter. And each post is encouraging, uplifting, enlightening, insightful, educational, and best of all, short. Dan has committed to keeping each post around 300 words. Short, to the point, and makes me think. Every time.

Jeremy Affeldt is a former major league relief pitcher, retiring last year with the San Francisco Giants. I forgave him for pitching for one of the Cubs’ competitors when I first started reading his posts. Jeremy is a strong Christian who not only believes in Jesus, but follows through with obeying the words of Christ. His blog is about grace and justice and the true meaning of following Christ. Wisdom from a Giants pitcher. Go figure.

 I probably don’t have to say much about my next two favorites. Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) is known to most people because of her Food Network program, but I knew of her long before she hit cable television. And she is certainly more than just a great recipe. Ree was a city girl, transplanted to ranch wife, when she married her Marlboro Man and moved to Pawhuska, Oklahoma. She began blogging many years ago, before I even know what the word “blog” meant. She is a homeschooling mom, photographer and humorist…and each blog is a vulnerable look into her life. One of my favorite’s is a conversation with her husband. Hilarious.

Ann Voskamp is the author of a little book called “One Thousand Gifts” – a little book that has its own website and sat on the New York Times’ best-selling list for 60 weeks. A little Christian book about being thankful, finding joy even in the midst of incredible suffering, written almost like a poem. 60 weeks. Her blogs are similarly written – beautiful, flowing script full of wisdom and integrity and bravery. Ann is a wife and mother who was surprised at her little book’s success but has stepped into the role God has given her as a voice for embracing brokenness and pain to find healing in Jesus.

Lastly, I love, love, love my own son’s blog. Sean is my second son, a young adult who writes honestly about struggles with love, disappointment, despair, success, and hope. He writes both fiction and non-fiction but each post reflects his sensitivity and wisdom. I am so proud of him. Cannot quite wrap my brain around this young man who would cry crocodile tears when I gave him a writing assignment as a middle school student. You’ve come a long way, baby.

Confessions

So why did I say I was going to blog for 40 days in a row? Today is day 36, I think. My brain is empty (or emptier, depending on your point of view). Anything I think of sounds like drivel. I was proud of a couple of posts. I cringed a few times on others when hitting the “publish” tab. But I enjoy writing. I enjoy putting thoughts on paper (um…computer). But the pressure of having to put those thoughts in writing has gotten to me today. I got nothing.

Most who know me well understand that I’m a talker. I’ve never had a problem stating an opinion, discussing an issue or yucking it up over humorous situations. I think a few of you wonder why I’m blogging at all. Good question. Because I can. You can too, if you want to. The technology of having a blog site makes it pretty simple. No one has to be very tech-savvy to handle a wordpress blog.

So today I’ve got nothing to say. At least nothing to say to you. Except…why don’t you try it? Why don’t you open a word document and type away. Or my personal favorite – grab one of those old Mead composition notebooks with the wide ruled pages and start creating. Journal what you’ve done today. Draw a picture. Doodle a flower or two. Use some pretty colored markers and write out your favorite Scripture.

Now that I think about it – I believe I’ve already blogged about the cathartic qualities of writing. See – now I’m repeating myself. Time to blog off. Maybe I’ll get some inspiration in the middle of the night.

If you want to read some very good stuff, check out my son’s blog posts recently. His latest creative writing endeavor is a 12-part series that I’m very proud of. But I’m his mom – I’m allowed.