Congratulations to Iris of Sting My Heart blog. Today is her official day to launch her new devotional site, Laced With Grace.

Iris and a team of six other lady bloggers will be sharing daily devotional thoughts to lift the hearts of readers. I’ve been reading Iris’s beautiful essays in the Blogs of Beauty carnivals since last winter — God has whispered to me between the lines of her posts many times.

We’re praying for you, Iris! May God be glorified through your words! 🙂

Today’s my one-year blogging birthday. My Blogiversary. Yep, it’s been a whole year since the first time I logged onto my new WordPress blog and sent my thoughts out into cyberspace.

Surprisingly, no reporters are banging on my door or calling me to ask me how I feel about this monumental milestone. So, excuse me for being a total geek, but I’m going to interview myself. Something I’ve never done before, but why not?

So, Heather, how do you feel about reaching your first blogiversary?

Surprised. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I started blogging. In some ways, I still feel like a newbie compared to everyone else out there. But blogging has become such a part of my daily routine that I can’t imagine not doing it.

What was your first post about?

It was called Come On In, and I wrote this:

First of all, you don’t have to be a mom to come on in and visit. What I’m interested in is hearing your views and opinions on topics that relate to families. We may not all have the same backgrounds or lifestyles, but when it comes to children, we have an incredible amount in common.

I’d love for this to be a forum where it’s not just my voice you’re reading. So, I’ll be looking out for interesting ideas and opinions to share with you. My passion is to encourage and inspire others through helping them connect to what they need.

I feel pretty much the same way now. Except I know some of my readers, which makes writing a lot more fun!

Why did you decide to start blogging?

It all goes back to attending my first writers’ conference, the 2004 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers’ Conference. I had a one-on-one appointment with a professional writer, and she said I should definitely have a website, but I had no idea what to put on it. I’d been a stay-home mom for 8 years, totally out of the career loop.

At the conference, I picked up a flyer about a writing contest sponsored by Zondervan, and I decided to enter. We were supposed to submit a 50,000-word nonfiction book manuscript, which I did. It was a great experience for me. I didn’t make the list of finalists, but I wrote my very first blog comment in February 2005 to congratulate the winner.

I later went back to visit the Zondervan blog and noticed Stacy Harp of Mind & Media (now Active Christian Media) had also left a comment that she was looking for bloggers to help spread the word about Christian books. So I contacted Stacy, and she called me personally and invited me to join her reviewing team if I’d start a blog. It was exciting to get a phone call from a Christian writer I didn’t know in California!

So, the initial reason you started blogging was to review books?

That was one idea. But I wanted to have a greater purpose for blogging than just writing book reviews. That would get pretty boring for people to read, I thought. So I decided to make my blog an offshoot of the local column I write for West Georgia Ladies Magazine. My column is called “Mom 2 Mom Connection,” and I enjoy seeking ways to encourage women and help them feel connected. I’ve been writing this column since November 2004, also a result of attending a writers’ conference.

What have you learned about the blogosphere that you didn’t know a year ago?

Well, when I first started writing, I didn’t open up for comments. I was afraid of spam and all the unknowns. Then I got an email from a nice lady in Boston, who said she found my blog through the Technorati parenting tag. Wow — I was so encouraged and felt like I had one real reader! Gradually, I opened up my comments, and I’m glad I did. I’ve made so many friends this way. There are some amazing people out there. Through blogging, I have friends all over the world — and I hope when my kids are older we can visit some of these friends!

What are some highlights from your first year of blogging?

I’ve really enjoyed writing essays for the Carnival of Beauty, sponsored by A Gracious Home blog (formerly Two Talent Living). This is where I’ve “met” many kindred spirits who have become friends.

A few months ago, I started writing the “Book Buzz” column for Christian Women Online ezine, which has introduced me to even more wonderful ladies who love to grow in their faith and write. And I have a new outlet for sharing my love of Christian books.

I was also blessed when I hosted the Mother’s Love Writing Contest back in April. What a joy it was to read women’s stories about their moms, and occasionally I discovered comments where the mothers who were written about thanked their daughters publicly. Much healing comes from writing about the good memories and letting go of the bad. There comes a point where we need to forgive and move on, and I think the essay contest allowed some women to do that.

Other highlights include interviewing so many amazing writers, whose books offer the types of resources women need. My list of people I want to interview is so long now!

Do you have any concerns about blogging?

Yes, I do have concerns about my privacy, and especially of my family’s privacy. I just don’t know who is reading this blog, though I try to visit the sites of people who leave comments. Still, I can’t assume that every reader is someone I’d want to hang out with in real life, so for now, I’ve decided not to post pictures of my home or children. I may change my mind someday, but since I don’t blog anonymously, this is what I’ve decided for now. I can’t stand the nasty spam I receive, and I’ve even been verbally attacked for my views on a certain book, so I just try to be wise about things.

What are your future plans for Mom 2 Mom Connection?

I’d like to make this site more user friendly. I’ve gotten some of the most heart-wrenching emails from women, distraught over various issues. I try to write each of them back personally, and suggest a book or a website that may have the resources they need. But I’d like to expand my blog into a website that would make it easy for people to click on the subject they’re interested in. I could offer direct links to books and websites that could help them. It will be a while before I’m ready to do that.

I also will probably take some time off in the spring to work on a book proposal. I’d like to attend another Blue Ridge writers’ conference or ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) next summer, and take a proposal or book manuscript with me. For a nonfiction book proposal, you have to write an outline and three chapters, as well as your marketing plan. For a fiction proposal, you need to submit the whole manuscript. I’m still trying to figure out if I want to write for women only or maybe go back to my long-ago dream of writing for children. When I figure it out, I’ll need some time off from blogging to write.

Any closing words?

Right now, blogging is the easiest way for me to reach out to women beyond my small circle of friends and family. There are so many desperate people in the world. They sit down at their computer and google “depressed mom blog” or “I feel like a failure blog” or “I’m tired of being a mom blog” and they end up at my site (yes, these are actual phrases people have used recently). I don’t have all the answers, but I know they’re looking for hope, which can be found in the Bible.

Christian books can be a gateway for people to enter into God’s Word, whether it’s a fictional story in which a character learns and grows spiritually, or it’s a nonfiction book written from a compassionate point of view. I want to help people find positive ways to cope with life’s daily stresses and frustrations.

Wellness is a whole-package deal — physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I blog about things we can do to stay well physically at b5 media’s Lively Women, and I blog about everything else here. Of course, I think writing is one of the best things we can do to cope and feel closer to God’s heart — as King David did, when he reached for his pen instead of his sword.

Heather Ivester is a mom of five kids ten and under and the author of From a Daughter’s Heart to Her Mom: 50 Reflections on Living Well. She’s also contributed devotionals, essays, and articles to several magazines and books, including Guideposts magazine and the newly released A Cup of Comfort for Mothers to Be.

I don’t have anything important to attempt to say today. I just wanna talk to somebody … when it’s convenient for you to check out my blog.

Here’s what’s up … and why I’m feeling down.

This morning, right now at this very minute, a few miles from my house, I could be sitting in a clean, air-conditioned room with about 15 other women, watching Beth Moore teach on a giant video screen. As I’m typing now, at 9:40 am, our group is probably finishing up the discussion of our third week’s topic, Love. We’re studying Living Beyond Yourself, and WAAAHHH! I want to be there!!

Here’s why I’m not there. I’m holding my 18-month-old who has thrown up on me twice already this morning. She’s hot as fire, burning up with fever. I didn’t know she was sick until last night, while I was chatting with some moms at the church playground, enjoying myself for a few minutes until … BLAHK … she threw up all over me. This is why I do not even pretend that I have my act together.

My three-year-old is still upstairs in his bed asleep. I’ve checked on him nine times already. He was also feverish last night. I’m letting him sleep as long as he wants. Maybe he’ll wake up and have this thing kicked. It’s our first fall virus, one of the joys we get from being sociable and active in church this year. We’ve even dubbed these nasty things the “Wednesday viruses” because the symptoms always show up on Wednesdays after we go to church on Sundays.

So I’m not at Bible Study, interacting with my wonderful adult women friends. I’m also not at the gym with my friend Mary who asked me again to work out with her. She keeps reminding me she wants to teach me the circuit machines, and the last time she saw me she said, “I’ve got to show you how to use the Butt-Blaster. You won’t believe the results once you use it for about three weeks.” I’m sorry, that’s not a word I use or even type, but I couldn’t help it. There’s no better name for a machine that does THAT, is there?

I’m also not going to be able to watch my son’s flag football team in the championship game today. They’re playing an hour away, and the best I’ve done is send the grandparents an email with directions to the game, hoping one of them might be able to go. Another reason I feel like a terrible failure of a mom today.

And let’s also toss in my worries about tomorrow. We’ve invited two of my son’s friends to spend the night — our plans are to build a bonfire and roast hot dogs or s’mores. But what if my little ones don’t get better today? Ethically, I’ll have to cancel these plans.

Tomorrow, I’m also supposed to cook a chicken casserole to deliver to a friend in my women’s club who has a newborn baby and is recovering from a horrendous delivery in which she had to have emergency surgery and a blood transfusion. Furthermore, she had to have another painful procedure done yesterday, which may affect her ability to nurse. I’m really looking forward to visiting her tomorrow and taking her a little gift, along with my part of the meal (another friend is helping me.) But I can’t do this if I’m a traveling virus.

So! I told my husband this morning at breakfast — this is why so many stay-home moms find connection through blogging. I know this is a season of life that doesn’t last forever — and someday my kids will be older and won’t get sick as often. My elementary-aged kids hardly ever get sick — and unless they have a fever, I send them on to school.

My husband reminded me — well, at least I don’t have to be stressed about finding a sitter because I have to get to work. Yes, that’s true. But we were also talking last night about how useful it might be if I could teach English in a private Christian school someday — so we could get reduced tuition and use my salary to pay the rest of the tuition and expenses. That would be nice indeed and would give me something creative to do with this love I have of writing and encouraging other people to write.

Someday … but not today. My greatest ambition today is to blog about my desperate life in the hopes that one of you out there who may also be having a discouraging day may feel a little better. Or just in case you think I might have my act together because my blog appears clean on your screen and there are no crushed cheerios or globs of peanut butter on it, you’ll see that appearances can be deceiving.

I’m hoping I’ll be able to take a shower today, and maybe finish up organizing the last upstairs closet from our autumn fling. I’ll be making chicken broth soup and jello, and reminding my husband to pick up Pedialyte on his way home (can’t live without that stuff in the winter when you’ve got preschoolers or babies.)

Thanks for listening … I feel better already. Can’t beat the price of blogging!

Today, I want to say thanks to two ladies who continually encourage me in my quest to drop these last, irritating, going-nowhere postpartum pounds. I’ve wanted to give up so many times in the last few weeks.

It’s so tempting to raise the white flag on being thin and having energy like I did in my early 20s before having kids. I worked hard this summer and lost 15 pounds, but then I got slack — and stressed — and started eating cookies, chips, crackers, etc. and I gained 3 pounds back. Most of all, my energy level sunk, as I let sugar creep back into my diet.

My husband noticed last weekend. He said, “Something’s different about you lately. Is everything OK?”

“I’ve given up on exercise,” I said. “I just don’t have time. I can’t fit it into my schedule.”

Then he told me if I worked out now, I’d be glad in ten years, when I feel and look good in my late 40s. These will be the years when I actually have time and money (hopefully) to go shoe shopping and maybe even get a decent haircut more often than every 6 months.

I needed some inspiration, and I got it from my two favorite healthy lady bloggers: Alyice Edrich of DM Writes and Melodee of The Amazing Shrinking Mom. Alyice keeps me motivated with her workout ideas, and she still has time to run a profitable writing business. It makes me feel like exercising when I read what she’s done to stay on track!

Melodee of The Amazing Shrinking Mom is a Clubmom blogger who has lost — are you ready — 43 pounds since she started blogging about her weight. Way to go! Here’s her eating plan on her blog:

On April 17, 2006, I quit eating sugar, white flour, white rice, potatoes, high-fat dairy and high-fat meats. I read The GI (Glycemic Index) Diet by Rick Gallop and incorporated most of his ideas, though once a week or so, I indulge in movie-theater popcorn and a soft taco. I eat a piece of dark chocolate every day. I plan to eat this way the rest of my life because, seriously, no cookie is worth being fat forever.

At first, Melodee started losing weight through only changing her diet habits. But lately, she’s on an exercise streak. She works out at her local YMCA. So, she’s motivated me to get back to the gym as well. It’s easy to make excuses when you don’t see results — but I know I’ve got to keep going.

Well, those are the bloggers who’ve blessed me this week. When I wanted to give up, they kept me going. I went back to the grocery store and bought myself some more mixed salads (which will replace pasta, potatoes and rice for me), almonds, and mozarella string cheese for my “diet.” I’m going to pray every time I feel that urge to eat “just one cookie” and think what Melodee said: “No cookie is worth being fat forever.” I want to be 50 and fabulous someday — not 50 and frumpy!

Too bad I can’t burn calories while blogging. I’m off now …

I was feeling sociable this week, so I asked Michele if I could join Blogging Chicks. I’ve seen this cute little HTML on lots of your sites — and it piqued my interest. (Especially when I saw it on Gina’s blog.)

Are any of you Blogging Chicks? Well, what am I supposed to do now? I know there are writing Carnivals every now and then. Michele, who runs the site, describes herself as:

I’m a stay-at-home mom who is never home (I’m usually in my car). I have two daughters, a 14 year old and a 10 year old and a generous and longsuffering husband. I’m 45 but feel at times like I’m 19 and other times like I’m 80. And I’m a part-time student at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. I’m in the M.A.R. Biblical Studies program and I hope to publish Bible studies when I complete my degree.

She sounds like someone I’d like to get to know. How exciting to be learning Greek in seminary!

There are more cute graphics here, compliments of Gabrielle.

FYI, the Blogging Chicks blogroll is on the bottom left in my sidebar — I recognize several of you in there — but there are also lots of blogs I’ve never heard of.

[Edit: I have removed the P.S. from this post. I apologize for any misunderstandings my words may have caused.]

If you’ve been blessed by a blogger lately, here’s your chance to tell everybody. Just write something on your own blog, and send the link to Christian Women Online. Or if you don’t blog, then you can comment here.

I’ve been blessed by so many people, but I have to highlight two bloggers who really made me go, “Wow!” this week.

Carol of She Lives
This week, my local Jr. Woman’s Club sent out our monthly newsletter, and as I looked over the list of upcoming fall projects, I saw the Memory Walk coming up in October. This event raises money for the Alzheimer’s Association, and last year, our city raised $15,000. Our club has been asked to help staff registration and set-up.

It will take up several hours of my Saturday, but as I gave it some thought, I remember a post Carol wrote back in June about her father, She Takes a Walk. Carol wrote about how her father passed away from Alzheimer’s Disease when he was 65 years old, and that it’s hereditary in her family. Every time I read her post, I get tears in my eyes.

Before her father died, Carol worked very hard to make her dad a scrapbook to help him remember the special people in his life. But she went beyond this — she signed up to be a Creative Memories Consultant and taught workshops to help other people create their own memory albums. She was asked to keynote the Memory Walk kick-off luncheon in her hometown, and her team won an award for raising the highest amount of funds. You can see a picture in her post.

So, thanks to Carol’s passion for Alzheimer’s patients, I feel that I have a personal connection to this association, and now I’m getting involved locally. And of course I have a story to tell people. I hope you can read She Takes a Walk, if you haven’t already.

Jenn of Secular Transcendence: The Random Adventures of a Recently Born Again Messianic Jew
I didn’t realize Jenn had a new blog until this week. Our “paths” crossed during the Beth Moore Living Beyond Yourself online study — Jenn and I were both members of this group. I have to say “Wow!” a million times when I’ve read about her transformation — what joy to have a new sister in Christ as a result of this study!

I read Jenn’s post of August Book Reviews, and I had to jump over to her old blog to read her review of Watching the Tree Limbs, by Mary DeMuth. I read that book too and reviewed it for CWO last month.

Here are the sentences in Jenn’s review that took my breath away (if she doesn’t mind me quoting):

Stopping at various passages to meditate on an idea or little snippet of dialogue that touched me I felt the hand of God reach down and cup my face up to tell me, “Now, do you remember child? You are Mine. You need not worry about anything because I’ve got it all under control.”

See, I had forgotten. I had shut my eyes to Him everywhere, to His whispers in everything. I got wrapped up in this Earthly mess we call life and just plain forgot to stop thinking for myself. I forgot what it felt to be free. I forgot to let the Spirit take over. It happens to me. I don’t know why, but it does. How quickly everything just falls to pieces when that happens. But how quickly it all comes together when I remember.

I thank you God for leading me to this book. I thank you Ms. Demuth for not being afraid to share your story, for reminding me that I have a purpose in life, probably not unlike your own but more importantly for reminding me that I’m His and He loves me and will never, ever forget me.

After I read that, I emailed Jenn and asked if she’d ever visited Mary DeMuth’s blog — and she wrote back that she didn’t even know Mary had one! So I sent this review link to Mary, and they’ve connected. Mary wrote about it here.

There are more bloggers who’ve blessed me, but I guess this is long enough for one post. I’ve never met any of these ladies personally, yet we’re connected through our faith and our words.

Confession time. Did you exercise yesterday? Uh. huh. How about today? Are you making excuses like me?

If you want to read my Top Ten List of why I can’t seem to get my rear in gear, you can join me at the b5 media Science & Health Channel theme day. Christina of MRSA Notes is hosting today’s topic, and I’ve joined in, along with my other bloggity friends at b5. Leave us a comment and let us know what top ten list you can relate to most.

The new September issue of Christian Women Online is out. Once again, it’s full of inspiring ideas to help us gear up for fall. This issue also contains a visit from a celebrity — you’ll be surprised hearing how this beautiful woman lives out her faith, along with her famous (and I must add, adorable) celebrity brother. Click here to see who.

My Book Buzz column this month lists my favorite books for getting toned up this fall — in your home, your marriage, your finances, your spiritual walk, and your friendships.

There’s always something new going on at CWO. Editor Darlene Schacht sent out a note to the Blogring members that there are over 500 bloggers now who have joined up. It’s a great way to “meet” other like-minded believers — so, have you signed up yet?

Starting tomorrow, we’ll have the chance to post how we’ve been Blessed by a Blogger. If you’ve read something amazing lately, or you’ve been encouraged by a blogger, here’s your chance to let the world know. Then send your link here, and join the crowd. I’ve been saving up all week for this.

Do you know what the #1 fear of most Americans is? According to a recent Gallup poll, it’s SNAKES, closely followed by our #2 fear: public speaking.

So, THAT, in my opinion, is why Snakes on a Plane has failed to charm movie-goers. Who wants to sit through a movie watching our #1 fear slither across the screen? Talk about nightmares!

I felt completely helpless on our plane last week as we bumped our way through storm clouds north of Atlanta. Our pilot’s calming voice came across the speakers: “Please remain in your seats and turn off all electronics, as we’re experiencing a little bit of turbulence.” I can’t even imagine if we were stuck in our seats with snakes in the floorboard!

But this editorial in USA Today makes the point that the movie’s lack of box-office success, despite a buzz among bloggers, shows that bloggers really don’t have as much power as they think they do.

The author writes:

… It is the underwhelming response to Snakes that reveals the real peril in relying on bloggers to take the nation’s pulse … Ever since the first smarty-pants posted his first unsolicited opinion on the Internet, Americans have become captivated by blog-o-mania — for good reason. For once, we own and operate our own public medium. Power to the people. Vox populi. Yadda-yadda.

He also claims this is “a wake-up call to the mythology of blogging.”

Huh?

It wouldn’t matter to me if every single one of you were blogging about that movie — begging me to go see it. I would NOT go. No way. In contrast, I HAVE gone to see movies and bought books that bloggers have recommended — because I thought, “Oh, that sounds like something I’d like.”

In fact, after reading this review in The Writing Life blog, I’d love to go see “Little Miss Sunshine: A Family on the Verge of a Breakdown.” He says, “It’s been a while since I’ve laughed so hard during a movie … It captured the human spirit in a remarkable fashion and becomes ‘a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture.'”

Reading that makes me want to go see it, as well as this comment from a reader:

My husband and I saw this last weekend. It’s absolutely not the type of movie my husband tends to watch but we both loved it and highly recommend it! There is a wonderful review of it in the L.A. Times that is more fun to read after seeing the movie than before. It’s a piece of literature in itself.

I trust the opinions of my favorite bloggers more than reviewers in the newspaper. So I don’t think the influence of blogging is a myth at all. Do you?

I only subscribe to a few magazines, but Today’s Christian Woman is one of my favorites. I keep the current issue in my car or purse, so I can read something fun while I’m waiting … which I do a lot.

A few months ago, the magazine asked readers, “Tell us how you keep your faith fresh.” So I sent in a short essay about how I share my faith through blogging. If you’ve got a copy of this month’s issue, my thoughts appear on the last page. The subtitle is “Blog It.”

TCW magazine is full of inspiration and tips for walking out your faith as a 21st-century Christian woman. For example, I love reading Liz Curtis Higgs’ column. Her topic this month was Queen Jezebel — and how she unfortunately sees some similarities between this evil, take-charge queen and herself. Higgs ends her column with these inspiring words:

For those of us who love to run the show, Jezebel’s story is worth a closer look. Even as a worshiper of God, not Baal, I can find myself taking charge instead of taking direction, or speaking my mind instead of speaking the truth in love. If that’s you, sis, why not join me in praying for a gentler spirit and words that edify rather than destroy.

God gave us our leadership abilities; let’s use them for his glory.

(Gulp.) Liz, you talkin’ to me?