I was tagged by L.L. Barkat to do some history. I will think I will follow her format in her post "Bridge to the Past."
30 years ago, I wasn’t blogging. I had been living in Texas and was driving a UPS truck in downtown Dallas. I had graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in business. While in college, I worked in a variety of jobs. The last several years of school, however, I worked for United Parcel Service (part-time). I planned to go into management with UPS after graduation, and the first step was to drive a truck. I then quit UPS, moved to Alabama, and began studying at a small Bible college. I had no idea what I would be doing with my life. That seems like a long time ago at this moment.
20 years ago, I wasn’t blogging. I was married with two small girls. We lived in Florence, Alabama. We had been away for a number of years while I completed a Master of Divinity degree at Abilene Christian University (Abilene, Texas). Now, I was working with a small church filled with people who knew they desperately needed the grace of God. There were many broken people in this church. We had people who had been in jail, had a history of drugs or alcohol abuse, and a number who had experienced divorce.
While I wasn’t blogging in those years, I was writing. For a number of years I wrote letters to each one of our children, which I have in spiral notebooks. I began journalling.
10 years ago, I wasn’t blogging. My daughters were fifteen and ten years of age. One was in high school, and the other was in middle school. They were sweet, vibrant girls with lots of energy. Our lives were spent going to their athletic events, on family vacations, and just being together. At this point, we had lived in Waco, Texas, for about four years.
I wasn’t blogging but I was writing in my journal regularly. I began thinking about the possibility of writing a book.
I began blogging in 2003 using Blogger. From April 2004 through September 2006, I blogged using Typepad. I have been using WordPress since then. I attempt to post five days a week. I also read a number of blogs regularly. I tend to read blogs that either cause me to think or in some way cause me to reflect upon my walk with God. Have I ever been blessed! Over and over I get to interact with some wonderful people through their comments.
Now I tag and move on. I want to tag Jen Gorham, Bryan Riley, Liam Byrnes, Ted Gossard, and Ben Overby.
Jim, this is great! I never pictured you as a UPS delivery person. And isn’t it interesting that you still “deliver” the things others need, though not always in brown paper packages?
I was also interested in your discussion of your writing journey. I’m not much for keeping journals, so I’m impressed by your dedication to that. What kind of book have you wanted to write?
Thank you for sharing that.
L.L.,Yes, it is interesting that I still attempt to deliver. (Thought I’ve never quite thought about the comparison). Driving that truck (and even loading those trucks while in college) gave me a real appreciation for people who have jobs where there is routine, lots of sameness, and yet many people depend upon this person.Writing—I have two partial manuscripts in my office. Each one relates to one of my passions which is helping believers stay fully alive throughout their lives on this earth (instead of shutting down at an early age and coasting). Right now, I feel stuck. Not sure why I am not working on either one of them or moving any farther along.Glad you asked.
Jim, thanks for telling me about your books-in-the-making. In my experience (which isn’t much… only one book!), the middle of the book is the hardest part. Everything kind of grinds to a halt there, maybe out of anxiety that we’ll never finish. So, just write through. And then go back later to rewrite the middle. It won’t feel like the middle any more then, and the work will have some kind of complete shape to work with. Just a small bit of advice, which you might take or leave.
L.L.Very good advice. (Accepted and appreciated.) Thanks very much.
Jim, I’m finally getting to this. I read it earlier. Thanks. It’s sure amazing how the decades come and go.