For the Glory {guest post}

Good morning... or afternoon... or evening.... whatever time of day you are reading this I hope it is a good one :)

Today I am introducing you to an amazing lady, Claudia from Lashes & Beard. This girl has a way of making any subject fun and entertaining. Maybe it is her positive outlook that makes her blog so enjoyable, but whatever the case I am so happy she is sharing with you today! Be sure to stop by Lashes & Beard, get to know her better, and show some blog love to her today. Okay, here she is :D

Hey y'all! I'm Claudia from the blog Lashes & Beard, where you'll find me writing about everything from my faith to funnies, recipes to crafts, and things that just come to my head and my heart. Even when writing on semi-serious topics (like the post you're about to read), I still like to pepper it with light-heartedness, a pinch of sarcasm, and maybe some har-har's here and there for good measure. You should also know that, like most "mommy bloggers" out there, I too have the best husband (Josh) and the cutest baby boy (Isaiah) in the entire world... funny that we all have that in common, eh? I call the beautiful Seattle area "home," and wouldn't have it any other way.

I was really jazzed when Dalayna and I talked about writing a guest post for her blog. I've been reading Pointing Up for a while and, though I technically follow hundreds of blogs, Dalayna's is one of the few where I actually read every single post. She's inspired me to be more diverse in my own blogging ventures, and also gave me the kick in the butt I needed to start advertising my blog (she offered up free ad space for a giveaway that I ended up winning - woohoo!). So like I said, when the opportunity came up to write for her readers, I was beyond excited. 

I'll be honest with you - I had no idea what I was going to write about for this post. So many ideas kept popping into my head, bouncing around, then falling flat when I'd try to type it out. My heart just wasn't in the topics that I thought might appeal to Dalayna's readers and that would attract more followers to my blog. That's when I stopped, closed my eyes, and said a little prayer. I asked God to send his Holy Spirit to guide my hands, typing out the words that He would have His people read, so that He would get the glory. Not me. Not my blog. Not my GFC stats. HIM.

There probably aren't many statistics out there about how many bloggers say a prayer before they start writing their post, but I'm willing to bet it's a pretty small percentage. I rarely, if ever, do it. After all, why would you ask God to guide you in a post about that bomb chicken cacciatore you made last Tuesday? Or that cute outfit you just pinned? Or what about the rant you want to write about next year's pending bacon shortage?

I'll tell you why: because we were made to glorify God in all that we do. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Now, if I'm reading that correctly, I'm pretty sure the "or whatever you do" part covers recipes, pins, rants... essentially, all things blog-worthy. If everything we do is to be done to the glory of God, then saying a prayer and asking for the Lord's guidance and alignment with His will can't hurt matters. If anything, it steers us from our course of sin and folly (thanks, Adam and Eve) and redirects us to a path of worship, obedience, and jubilation.

The Bible speaks of the glory of God 275 times, 50 times in the Psalms alone. This is a central, vital theme to our Father and, thus, should be a vital theme to us. And yet, as I sit down to wonder what I'll blog about today and put out to countless people on the internet... all I can think of is, "What will make me most appealing?" or "How can I portray myself in the best and most likable light?" Not, "How can someone see Christ's light through this?" or "Where am I showing God's love?"

Bloggers, I challenge you. The next time you sit down to write out a blog post, no matter the theme, ask God to work through you so that your words may be glorifying to Him. So that when you post that chicken cacciatore recipe, you realize that it is because of our Heavenly Father's blessings that we're able to eat delicious food, fill our bellies, and take beautiful pictures of it to share with others. Or when you share your favorite Fall outfit from Pinterest, you glorify God by choosing clothing that is modest. And when you want to be upset about the bacon shortage of 2013... just remember Jesus couldn't eat bacon, either. ;-)