Why I'm Starting A Blog...

My name is Eugene J. Farley Jr. However, most know me simply as E. J. I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband, a father, a preacher, a seminary student, and now a blogger.

According to a survey of the top blogging sites on the internet today, there are over 570 million blogs on the internet. There were an estimated 32 million people blogging as of 2022. And now it’s 2023 so I’m sure that number has grown substantially.

One may ask…why jump into the already over-crowded pool of bloggers? Well, that’s a great question.

It’s a question I’ve constantly asked myself before I decided to dive in.

In answering that question, I came up with 3 reasons why I decided to blog.

I’ll go ahead and give a bit of a disclaimer that my first two reasons are kind of selfish…meaning I’m doing them for my personal growth, development, and enjoyment. I just wanted to put that out there. But no worries, I’ll get to you all (my readers) in the last reason. 😊

1. To Become a Better Writer

They say if you want to get good at something then you have to actually do it, do it again, and do it some more. Repetition is key. In my 31 years of life, there are many things that I have said I would love to be great at. There are fewer things, however, that I have taken the time to put the work in to achieve that goal. I want writing to be on that list. I admit, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship when it comes to writing. I think the words of Dorothy Parker sum up my thoughts best, “I hate writing. I love having written.”

I’m a card-carrying member of introvert club so it’s always been easier for me to express myself in writing as opposed to verbally. That doesn’t mean writing comes easy. It does mean that if given the choice, I’d much rather write a speech than have to stand up and give one. Therefore, I write. And just maybe, writing this blog will help me improve in some small way.

2. To Chronicle My Journey

Another reason I want to write is to chronicle my journey. There was a season of my life where I dealt with depression (I still do at times...more on that later). During that period, I journaled just about every day. I go back to read that journal every once in a while, and I’m always amazed at how reading things that I wrote almost 10 years ago takes me back to those exact moments, emotions, places, etc. There are things that I had forgotten about that I read and it brings it back to my memory. There are things that I wrote in that journal as prayer requests that I can now go back and see how God answered them. I can also see in some instances how immature I was and be encouraged by my growth. Life has a way of “growing you up”. And hopefully one day when I go back and read this blog, it’ll be a reminder of my growth and God’s faithfulness in my life.

3. To Be a Source of Hope and Inspiration

Finally, I’m writing in hope of being an encouragement to someone else. We live in a world that is in desperate need of hope. Living through a pandemic is hard. Being an adult is hard. Being a kid is hard. Being a parent is hard. Losing a loved one is hard. Losing a relationship is hard. Depression is hard. I could list a plethora of other things but my point is that life in general is …you guessed it…HARD.

In spite of all of that, there is hope to be found. Hope is available, despite all the difficult things life can/will throw our way. Hope is why we keep going. My desire is to be a source of hope while ultimately pointing you to THE source (more on that later😊).

In writing, I plan to be open and transparent about some of my experiences. I want to highlight both my successes and failures, my victories and defeats, my mountain tops and valleys. In this, I hope someone will say that they learned something and they were encouraged in their own journey. I believe that all of our lives are stories that are being written and they all contain things each of us can learn from. Whether good or bad, every chapter serves a purpose.

So, there they are…my primary reasons for writing. I’m sure I’ll think of more at some point. But that’s it for now. If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you taking the time to read. I’ll be posting more in the days to come so be sure to subscribe.

Be encouraged. Happy New Year!

#AllThingsWorkTogether