A brother in arms and more importantly a brother in Christ once said something I find hilarious to this day, yet it is as true as it is funny to me. He said something to the effect of “It is all fun and games until the work gets tough, then it becomes ministry!”. One such event for me is this blog. It started, as described elsewhere, as a way to document what I was learning, what I was doing, and what I wanted to do. It is my online notes on how to accomplish a task, and how to repeat that when I do it again three years from now and forgot the details.
In learning how to document these things, I also learned the tools to create those documents. A way of creating a consistent look across the site, while providing different pages along the way. Some use online blogging sites like Blogger or Wix, while others will use a full blown database such as the ever popular WordPress (either hosted or on site). Due in no small part to the circumstances I was in when I started my site, along with the relatively modest needs of my site, I ended up using Jekyll, one of many static site generators.
When I started, just a short 6 weeks or so ago, I had a LOT of content and a lot to say. I built a lot of it up previous to the start, of course, but there was still a lot - just browse the site and you can see that. What I didn’t have is a consistent look to my own creative content. Sure, I used Jekyll and an external theme, but all the theme does is provide defaults - settings that are completely over-rideable. It is a template, or starting point, and my content still needs it’s own consistency even today. Moreover I am finding it difficult to 1 - find new topics, and 2 - find time to write on those topics. This is where it becomes work.
I have posted a few places that I would start this blog - after all, why not share with the world what I am learning? Moreover, why should they have to stumble across it? If I point them to it and it helps, great! If I point them to it and it doesn’t help, it doesn’t hurt either. But there is no reason to ever check back until there is new content or at least updates, and that takes commitment. Like many before me I committed to trying to blog at least once per week. Why that frequency? Well, for starters, once per month seemed way too long between posts, and I had a lot to say. Secondly, a week really should be a good time to look back and verify you have accomplishments worth writing about. If not, maybe you should consider doing more, or perhaps you are just not giving yourself enough credit on what you do actually accomplish. Either way, no one is a robot - things change week to week, and a lot of that is worth writing about to someone - even if it is just your opinion or feeling about what has happened in the world. Editorials sell - ask the news agencies that have abandoned news and replaced them with editorials.
Back on topic, the commitment and work is already there. I have placed my achievements out there as how-to notes, so now comes the failures. My blog post on 1-18-2019 is one such ministry. It is a failure on my part to see what work I still had to do, even with a template. It showcases how pictures matter, and how consistency isn’t only had through the Jekyll template, but must be done throughout the work to be truly consistent. This is but one example of this blog being a ministry.
I am not sure I want any more ministry posts, but there will, despite my desires. I am far too human to stop making mistakes now. Blogging about them will help me remember, and hopefully help us all avoid, similar mistakes. If it does have to continue as a ministry (as well as a celebration); I am glad it will be here for others to learn and see the human side of living with technology.