As most of you know, I have not posted to my blog in the last couple of weeks. I entered the New Year with the anticipation of doing more consistent writing. It appears that resolution has been dashed with many others. But wait, I have been writing during those two weeks—just not for my blog.

A friend asked me to be a guest author on his blog. I shared with him that I realize I need a goal and a deadline. He was offering me the goal (write three blog articles on discipleship) and set my due date as January 25. I sent him the three articles on the 22nd, so he has time to prepare those to be automatically posted, even though he will be traveling during February.

Why would I write for someone else, rather than myself? To help him out. To see if my posts might draw some readers to my blog. To see what kind of reaction his followers have to my articles (he has attracted people who comment frequently). One of the things I am pondering is whether my style and/or subject matter may limit dialogue. Or, have I just not pushed the right buttons yet.

But another piece of this is I am experimenting. Many of the blogs I have read suggest that helping others is a great way to grow your own audience. We will see.

Now I plan to write some articles that I will publish here that work off the guest posts on his blog. That way if some of his readers hop over they will find some connections. The other thing it pushes me to do is plan ahead more.

Most of my posts build off of other conversations or experiences. Often I take a section of an email conversation and expand it. Or maybe I drill deeper into an issue that arises from a dialogue with a friend. Someone asks a mission-related question and that prompts me to fashion a response. Those are usually pretty easy to write, but they are reactive, more than proactive. I want to become more proactive in my writing. I will continue to respond to things that come up in the flow of life, but I also need to write regularly and consistently to build my discipline.

Thanks for checking in to my site. Any comments are appreciated. Questions are certainly welcome. If there are topics that come to your mind as you read any of these posts, please respond in a comment.

Those three posts will be on Brett Harrison’s site, Aliens and Strangers, (http://jamesbrett.wordpress.com) during the month of February. Brett does a good job of writing interesting and thought-provoking articles. He also has about four different types of posts that he mixes up well to attract and engage a diverse readership.

Is it possible I will gain more from giving those articles to Brett than if I had just posted them here? Join me as I test the promise of Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”