Today we celebrate our first year at The Bee Hive. 55 weekly posts, 52 recommendation posts, and 14 book reviews are in the books. I offer two thank you’s and two reflections:

1)      Thank you, dear reader. When I was a freshman in college and really caught the writing bug, I brought home my favorite papers and had my parents read them. Twenty years later, I recognize what a gift it is to have had parents who offered the gift of their time and focus to care about something I cared about. There were undoubtedly more than a few of the 121 posts over this past year that weren’t as compelling for you, kind reader, as they were in my head. Thank you for persisting with me. Thank you for your time. Thank you especially for those who subscribed, for those who shared, and for those who commented. You don’t know what a blessing that is to me.

2)      Thank you, beloved editors. Behind the scenes are four faithful editors: my wife, Angel, my sister, Sarah, my dad, Mike, and my good friend, Wes. They have made every post they’ve laid eyes on better. They’ve made my grammar gooder :), my arguments clearer, and even offered suggestions for posts.

A year into this enterprise, I offer two reflections:

1)      Blogging can be simultaneously life-giving and life-draining. Because our hearts are for people, every pastor longs for feedback. And just like a sermon there are times when a blog strikes a chord with people and you get feedback that encourages you. Other times, you craft a post on something near and dear to your heart and it is received with silence. Compounding the frustration is Facebook’s increasing power over our feeds. Their algorithms stifle blogs and news articles, in particular. All of that makes me even more grateful for those who do subscribe and respond.

2)      Blogging is an extension of pastoral ministry. I’ve had the itch to blog for a long time, but a variety of factors held me back. One of those was the concern that it would take me away from pastoral ministry. I eventually decided to take the plunge with the consideration that blogging could be an important tool in my calling. In a day and age where more and more information is consumed by the average person, the voice of a local pastor can be drowned out by the other voices (media, etc.). As I hoped, blogging has provided a healthy secondary point of conversation and pastoring for me at New Life. I’m able to deal with a broader range of topics and conversations and help pour into leaders at New Life two more times a week.

Thank you, friends for sticking with me through this first year. I pray that God continues to bless you as I labor to continue to reflect on culture and the church in ways that edify you. If you appreciate the blog, please consider sharing it with friends. And thank you again to those who have commented and subscribed. It’s a blessing to serve you in this way.  

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