A look back at the blog in 2019

I seem to be a little out of sync with the rest of the blog world. People were posting their top books of the year in mid-December, while I was still reading. People have been writing about the New Year since the day after Christmas, but I don’t usually have time to think about goals for the New Year til after the rest of the family has gone back to work in January. And people usually post retrospectives of their blogs before the end of the year, but I haven’t had a chance to do that yet. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll look back a just little more before I start looking forward.

I don’t know if anyone else gets anything from this post besides me, but I find it interesting to see what posts resonate the most with readers. Well, I can’t actually determine that, but my WordPress stats show me which posts get the most views.

As has been the case the past few years, the first several most-viewed posts are not from this year. In fact, the first hundred or so most-viewed posts of the year were from past years. I am thankful people are finding, reading, and hopefully being blessed by posts from the past. For the first time in several years, Coping When Husband is Away is not in the top spot: it has dropped down to number five. My top-viewed post from this year is from 2012: What Does it Mean to Magnify the Lord?

But as far as I can make out, the most-viewed posts that were published this year are:

1. “Just Wait: It Gets Harder.” People tend to tell tired young mothers that, but why? Instead, why not encourage them that God’s grace is sufficient for every step of the journey?
2. Great-grandma Is Home. We had taken care of my mother-in-law at home for five years, and God released her from her fragile, silent, still body and brought her home to Himself.
3. It’s OK to Say It Hurts. Maintaining a good testimony is not the same thing as keeping a stiff upper lip. The psalms are full of lament, and it’s okay to express grief or bewilderment.
4. What You Miss When You Turn Your Back on Church. A lot, it turns out.
5. A Tribute to My Mother-in-law. Written after we had gotten back and settled after the trip to take for the funeral.
6. What If We Really Don’t Measure Up? Sometimes we feel inadequate because we actually are. We’re not enough in ourselves, but we’re complete in Him. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
7. My Writing Journey.
8. End-of-July Musings and a Blog Anniversary Giveaway.
9. Remembering the Loved One Who Has Forgotten You. Sometimes people stop communicating with their elderly loved ones because “He doesn’t even know who I am any more” or “She wouldn’t even remember anyway.” But ministry and expressions of love should stop for those reasons. They might not remember us, but we need to show we remember them.
10. Book Review: Becoming Mrs. Lewis. I highly anticipated this one, but ended up having mixed emotions.

So 2019 has officially closed, and I look forward to spending time with you in 2020. Thank you so much for coming here to read and visit. You are an immense blessing to me.

“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” I Samuel 7:12. “The word ‘hitherto’ seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet ‘hitherto hath the Lord helped us!’ Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea; in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation–‘hitherto hath the Lord helped!'” Charles Spurgeon

(Sharing with Global Blogging, Hearth and Soul, Happy Now, InstaEncouragement,
Worth Beyond Rubies)