The Love Languages of Blogging

Posted by Susie Thomas of Susie Here Only

To love people in cyber-world, it helps to learn the love languages of blogging. Just as we learn in real-world relationships to love people in a way that they feel love, it is important to learn the same lessons in our online relationships. Here is what I’ve learned so far:

First, comment. Comments are how bloggers feel the love. Comments are how you encourage them, say “I hear you,” and “I understand.” On another level, comments help to increase their blog’s popularity, drive up their traffic, and earn them more readers. Bloggers love comments, and comments are how blogging relationships begin.

Some tips on relationship-building commenting:

• Don’t one-up the post. It’s tempting to say things like, “You think your kid’s story is bad? The other day, my kid…”
• Easy on the advice. The person who posted their kid’s horrible story is NOT looking for ideas on how to discipline her child. She�...

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Getting Out of My Bubble

Posted by Susie Thomas of Susie Here Only

My ministry assignment is to be a mother while we serve at AIA’s headquarters in Midwestern America. When you hear about the proverbial “bubble” of Christian community, I live right in the middle of it. Sure, I see non-believers in my daily life, but as a mom with small kids, any conversation we have is usually interrupted every three seconds by “Mom, I need you NOW.”

My blog has become my way out of the bubble – it has provided me with real, ongoing relationships with women who don’t know Jesus. Through blogging, we have become friends, and for me that is important.

Because my blogging purpose is to get out of the bubble and build relationships with non-believers, I have been intentionally careful in how I talk about my faith on my blog. I talk about it, yes, but I try to avoid anything that can be identified with cultural Christianity. I have learned that every post can be a path out of the bubble, or can slam the bubble d...

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Finding My Blog’s Purpose

Posted by Susie Thomas of Susie Here Only

Since I started casually, identifying a purpose for my blog was a long time coming for me. At first, my objective was to stay in touch from a distance, and then it became to give perspective from the other side of the world, and it has only recently evolved to its current state: I blog to build relationships with non-Christians. I’ll elaborate on that more later, but first I’ll share about the purposes that have tempted me along the way.

The first comment I got from someone I didn’t know scared me out of my pants. I was totally freaked out that someone other than my mom found me on the internet. The second comment I got from a stranger gave me a rush of excitement – I have a voice!

As I got further involved in the world of blogging – both reading and writing – I realized that the more people who read your blog, the cooler you are. And, just like that, I was tempted down a path of blogging for acceptance/recognition/fame�...

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Getting Started

Post by Susie Thomas of Susie Here Only

When I was serving overseas, I started a blog. It was intended to be just a little thing to share pictures of my baby with people back home, and to shock and entertain them with stories of life in India. The first time I hit “publish,” I was a little nervous about sending my thoughts out into the cyber-world – who would read it? What would they think? Am I just talking to myself? And then, I reminded myself, my mom and dad will read this, and they will always think I’m a superstar.

That was three years ago.

Since then, my blog has evolved a bit. More people read it, and I am always shocked to realize that many people I don’t even know read it. I’ve grown to love my blog and the relationships it has given me.

Over the past year, I have given blogging some more intentional thought: Why am I doing this? How can I serve God doing this? Can blogging be a ministry?

Well, of course, when you’re with Campus Crusade, anything can be a ministry, r...

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Our blogroll is growing and we will have more next month (see end of post)!

Because of the main focus of eQuipping for eMinistry, the majority of the blogs listed in the Blogroll are posted exclusively by Campus Crusade staff women who use blogs for ministry.  These women will encourage you to draw closer to God, guide you in using hospitality to share the love of Christ, give practical advice for moms serving overseas, paint a fresh perspective on life, offer a taste of life in another country, and more.  Visiting and commenting on some of the blogs (see right sidebar) will help increase traffic for our bloggers and also encourage them in their ministry.

GSW Reader

The Global Staff Women’s Reader is like a monthly “online newspaper” with selections only from this Blogroll.  During the first week of every month, we select a handful of posts from the different blogs.  Each month features different blogs and  subjects.  You can use RSS feed for the GSW Reader or use  Blog Alert to have emails sent aut...

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