My senior year of high school I began to imagine all that I would do in college. I enjoy sports, so I knew I would be involved in multiple intramurals and pick-up games with friends. I knew I wanted to find a church in which I could get involved. I was going to participate in a Bible study or two on campus and with my church. As I imagined all the things I would do in my time at college, never once did blogging make the list. Yet here I am, during my sophomore year of college, starting a blog.

Several months ago, I wrote a rather long post on Facebook about the Christian's response to the primaries. Many people were stressed about the election, and I was constantly bombarded with the anxiety and worry of those who were forgetting they are loved and cared for by the God of the universe. I had to say something. Weeks later I was meeting with a friend who asked when I was going to write another post. He told me about several people I barely knew who were encouraged by the post I had written on the election.

I thanked my friend for the compliment, but I shrugged off the idea of starting a blog. I am not "hipster" enough to be a blogger. When I picture somebody blogging, I think of someone sitting in a coffee shop, drinking a hot drink from a mug, wearing a beanie and skinny jeans, staring out a window for inspiration. None of that describes me. I do not like most hot drinks, I can count the number of times I have visited a coffee house on one hand, and I own neither a beanie, nor skinny jeans. Yet here I am, a boot-wearing, coffee-hating college student, starting a blog.

My decision to start a blog came so suddenly I surprised myself. That is probably for the best, for if I had given myself time to think about it, I probably would have talked myself out of it. The idea to start a blog stemmed from my desire to be as useful as possible to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Word of God speaks on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. These passages, along with several others on the subject, always share one thing in common: the use of spiritual gifts are for the building-up of the Body of Christ. God has uniquely gifted and qualified every Christian to grow the Church in unity and Christlikeness.

So often, many people attend church on Sunday morning with a desire to be filled. Church-hopping is a common phenomenon in which individuals never plant themselves at a local church, always moving from one to the next when another church does something they like better than their current one. This is not how the Church is designed to function. God has given to every Christian a unique ability for the benefit of the rest of the Body. To deprive other Christians the edification, encouragement, service, or instruction we can provide in an effort to be at a church where we always like the music, are always engaged by the preacher, and always agree with every decision the church makes is selfish--and an empty pursuit.

Despite being planted at a local church, I still could not forget the conversation I had with my friend months prior. My Facebook post had encouraged and strengthened a few of my brothers and sisters in Christ, some of whom I barely knew. If God can use my blogging to build the Church in unity and Christlikeness, then blogging is what I will do. I had already made a website for ministry at the advice of another friend, so I already had every resource I needed. Regardless of the reach or impact of my blog posts, my desire is to use the gifts and abilities God has given me to be as useful as I can be to His Bride, His Body, His Church. So here I am God, Your servant, desiring to be used by You, starting a blog.