1) My Favorite New ‘Thing’ for 2015 – Blogging!
The most appropriate name for my year would be: “The Year of the Newbie”. Every venture I embarked on – grandma’ing, blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting – I was new at.
If a visual learning curve were drawn for my year, it would be a vertical line – straight skyward. I have loved the challenge, the learning, the connecting, the writing, the whole kit-and-kaaboodle of it. I have grown…
2) The Best of 2015 is (drum-roll, please)……my new grandson, Clarky!
A hands down winner. You can’t compete with this little fellow and bundle of joy. He is, in every way, a delight. Becoming Bestemor (Norwegian name for grandma) is a wonder – bestemor means “best-mom”…I do know, it’s the best!
3) My Favorite New Social Media Outlet for 2015 – Tweeting!
I never knew. I’m attracted to efficiency – and, there is something awesome about having to say something with 140 characters. I enjoy going to famous people’s twitter accounts to see what they are ‘saying’ – you can learn soo much from people’s tweets – it’s like the Reader Digest version of their autobiography. Loving it!
4) My Favorite New Mission/Outreach – International Justice Mission (ijm.org)
I am often ‘that’ girl – the one who can’t quite figure out which ministry to give to, or who gets so caught up looking for the right ministry – I don’t get involved in anything. I am blessed to say I am “all in” for International Justice Mission. My heart cries out at the injustices of the modern day slave-trade industry and I appreciate the three-fold response of IJM to the problem.
5) A Handful of Media Favorites for 2015 – no order, no reason, just some stand outs!
- Stand Out Book: Jeff Goins – “The Art of Work”
It is a New York Times bestseller, so I’m not the only one who thinks this book is brilliant. Goins looks straight into the heart of our work, our calling, our purpose – and defines and describes the journey with meaning, with story, and with wit.
- Stand Out Analytical Tool – Clicky!
Do any of you struggle to get the data from Google Analytics? For a fee (sorry, there was a small catch) Clicky brings a simple version of Google Analytics that I can wrap my brain around. For me, it’s worth it. (see: clicky.com)
- One or Two Posts I Remember from the Year – isn’t that what defines ‘effective’ writing – you remember it?:
A Post Worth Thinking About – (Deidra Riggs) “How to How a Love Affair with Your Body” (read here).
A Post Worth Pondering – (Emily Weiringa) “Why the church needs to be a Home for the Homeless” (read here).
A Post from This Day – God’s Way that resonates – “Tears: Precious Seeds”. Also, a reminder that our lives/our years/our holiday’s have some sorrows and losses. For our family this year, we lost my hubby’s beloved dad – a grand man in our family.
- Stand Out Writer/Blogger/Website – Emily Freeman’s “Chatting at the Sky”
I ‘discovered’ Emily’s book “Simply Tuesday” and blog in July and I appreciate Emily’s world view and perspective – ‘live life small’. Worthy of a mention for 2015. Emily introduced me to the monthly habit of looking back to see “What I Learned/Loved” for each month, and, oops, I’m early on favs for 2015, that’s a first!.
**I would love to hear a ‘Stand Out’, or two, from your year – share it in the comment box!
Linking up this week with: Holley’s CoffeeformyHeart, Faith n’ Friends Linkup, ChattingattheSky