Blog at Home Mom ~ a Book Review and Giveaway

Are you a blogger? I am... of course you already know that because you are reading my blog. Are you a new blogger? Are you a blogger with a bunch of kids? Are you a blogger and a homeschool mom? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions than Blog At Home Mom is a book for you.

I have struggled with my blog over the years. I had the most sucess when I was doing reviews for TOS and had a lot of people looking at my blog. The past few years I have felt that I didn't really have anything worthwhile to say. My life seems to be on hold and so does my blog. Sometimes my blog seems to be a burden and I have considered shutting it down.

Lately I have been praying about it. I have also been setting goals for myself and my blog. Then along came the opportunity to review this book. A GODincidence. Just what I needed to give me a boost. Nothing much new, but a lot of reminders of why I blog. I also got a "kick in the pants" about my family and home. The Lord has been dealing with me about this in a number of ways, one of them through this book.

"When things are out of balance, your blog will feel like a burden, or conversely, your mothering responsibilities will feel like a burden. When either of these happen, it is best to take a step back, evaluate your responsibilities, and see what needs to change or be let go of altogether." pg. 5

God gives us talents and passions. He wants us to use them. Balance and Priorities need to be right. That is a daily struggle for me. I spend way to much time in worthless pursuits. Prov 12:11 says, " Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense." I don't have land to work but I do have work to do. Instead of doing the things I should I spend to many days, to much time in a day, on things that profit me and my family NOTHING. I have yearly goals, monthly goals, daily to-do lists and sometimes the days go by and things don't get done. I tend to get caught up in things I am doing, like playing a game, and forget the time; or I am stressed or down for some reason and I just don't feel like doing what I should. I have had to many of these days. I try not to be too hard on myself because we have been and still are going through a long trial... 8 years so far. But I also don't want to have day after day when I don't get anything done. This book was an extra kick, just where I need it.

I have goals for my blog. I want to have my blog be more interesting, more productive, more read by other people. I want to serve my Lord through my blog and I want to post things about my family as a reminder of days gone by and of today as well. The original purposes for my blog were to share about my family and more specifically about out homeschooling. I have not shared much about homeschooling lately because I felt our method of homeschooling had changed and I didn't have much to share. I can still share resources I find and the things we are reading and doing. It may still be a help to others who are just starting their homeschool journey, or have been at it a while. I have a post I am working on and want to have it up this week. It is written on my blog goal sheet and on my Goal Planning Monday post. Another way I keep myself accountable and moving toward my goals.

I want to make plans for my blog. I have begun using the printable here - Free Printable Blog Planner It was just what I needed. If this planner does not fit your needs look around the Internet, there may be something that suits you better, but this was just right for my blogging needs. I have room to write notes about 3 major blog posts for the week and places to make short reminders about other things I want to remember to blog about during that week... like meme's I like to participate in. I have only been using it for a couple of weeks.

This e-book also talks about setting goals for your children. My children are old enough now to set their own goals. Of course I still have wishes and dreams for my children but since they are 16-26 years old goals are up to them to set. I have tried to be a good example to them in setting and reaching for goals of my own. Now that, and prayer, are all I can do.

This book doesn't just talk about blogging. We need to have ballance so we need to attend to all areas of our lives. I do need to do some organizing and cleaning in my home. I have been really lazy about it and many things have been neglected. I have had a goal of working on a chore sheet so I can get more done each week. I need to just attack one or 2 little cleaning chores each day. I especially need to get to organizing and cleaning up our basement. It becomes a dumping ground so quickly. I have many things down there that need to be sorted through and thrown out or organized better.

One of the things I need to do better on with my blog is reaching out to my readers. When someone comments I need to leave them a comment back. I also want to reach out to the blogs that I read on a regular basis and leave comments more regularly. I have lots of Internet friends and some of them I rarely comment on. I need to do better with this and if I wasn't wasting so much time on other things I could accomplish this goal easily and then get on to other things.

One of the things I have let slip in the past few weeks is my Bible time, Christin talks about this as well. I have not made it a daily priortiy and more days than not I have let my time in the Word of God go by the wayside.

"You cannot blog with integrity if you don’t have your priorities in order. Your blogging is
your testimony. Without Christ at the center, it lacks power and will therefore lack reach
and transformation."  pg 23

If I want my blog and my life to glorify God than I must seek him and stay close to him. I need him daily because I am such a frail human being.

I give Blog At Home Mom This book gave me a lot to think about and reminded me of a lot of things that I needed a reminder of. I would recommend this book for all bloggers, but especially ones who are stay at home mom's with little ones.

There are lots more chapters, there is a lot more content... if you want more you will have to download the e-book... or enter to win a copy below. Christin and her family are trying to adopt and the sale of this book goes toward that goal for them.

You can find the links for purchasing the book and the list of the chapter titles here -
Blog At Home Mom

There are also jpg's of quotes from her book that you can pin from her site to advertise her book and help spread the word.

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