balance

Since my blog has grown so rapidly the past two weeks, I have been completely overwhelmed. I’m pretty sure I broke all kinds of records going from 140 followers to over 4500 in 12 days.

With all of the traffic comes lots of comments, emails, facebook messages, direct twitter messages, newsletters to send, lots of stats that I can’t quit refreshing, and so on…

Needless to say, in addition to everything else, it has been overwhelming. I am so, so, so JOYOUS for it though! It is an ever present confirmation that this is exactly what God has called me to do right now.

One of the most powerful things I heard at Blissdom was, “you’re gonna disappoint people. You cannot reply to everybody”. And that’s hard for me. I’m a people pleaser. I want to be as real with you as I can be. I want to tell each single person who comments or emails “thank you”. But I simply cannot.

Don’t think I didn’t try though. Remember back in August when I made my blog public and I wrote this post about being hot or cold? Well for a good while I kept up with the follow up challenge from that post.

But since I started blogging more (which actually has resulted in fewer posts per week) I have been almost glued to my iPhone and my laptop every day for the past 13 days. It has taken a negative toll on me and my family. And this is the part I don’t like.

I am trying to find balance. I have my schedule plastered to my fridge still, but I haven’t been keeping up with it. I’ve had my computer on “working” even when Elizabeth is up and needing my attention. I have fallen behind a chapter in one of my online classes, and most importantly, my one-on-one time with God has been spent publishing things to facebook and pinterest.

While I love all of you, please understand that my husband and daughter come first. They are WHY I do this. Why I choose to work from home. I cannot possibly reply to every single email and comment. I promise I read them all (sometimes over and over) though.

Another powerful thing I took away from Blissdom was the reminder that I am a writer. Writing has always been my way of coping and venting. And lately, I feel like I do a whole lot less of that and a whole lot more of “hey, here’s a recipe”! Though I lovelovelove helping other Mom’s find great healthy recipes and sharing ideas on how to live green, simple, balanced lives, that is not the only reason I started this blog.

(please don’t hit that unfollow button, please hear me out)

I wrote this blog to tell our story. His story. To document the day to day things. To share with you what He has shared with us, how He is blessing our lives through all of the tragedy we have faced, which is what The Pearl Event was all about today.

I will be posting more about Blissdom and The Pearl Event, but I just wanted to jot these things down tonight while they were on my heart and mind. Please bare with me as I find the balance I desire. It may mean commenting less on facebook, and it may mean more posts where I just write instead of posting a recipe or cleaning tip.

I love you all and I’m so glad you’re here. I know that God wrote this story for me to share with you.