Blogging Is a Journey

From the time this blog was created until now, it has been a lot of different things. It started off as an accidental side-effect of my desire to have my own website. I bought a WordPress site when I was 19 in order to tell the world who I was, and I attached a blog to the end of the navigation bar just in case I ever decided to write anything meaningful. I wrote a few short updates when I felt particularly inspired by something I experienced or saw, but the blog wasn't really a priority to me.

When I switched the site from WordPress to Tumblr the next year, my enthusiasm for blogging was revitalized, and the blog became something completely new. Instead of consisting only of random text posts and a few videos, my blog became the hub that all of my social media accounts pointed to. It was also promoted to the main page of my website instead of a side one. I wanted to create a one-stop shop where people could check out everything I was doing at any given time. So I blew up my Tumblr with photos, Vines, YouTube videos, tweets, quotes, and short-form text updates. It was cool, but it was kind of a jumbled mess.

Fun fact: At one point, my blog became exclusively dedicated to counting down to the release of a feature-length film my friends and I made. Let's just say the movie took up most of my creative energy at that time.

But a couple of years ago, in the midst of a difficult time, I wrote an article called Feel Something, and it set the stage for the next phase of my blog. I found that I actually enjoyed writing long-form content, taking a theme or idea and expounding upon it over 600 to 1,000 words combined with a high-quality image. I started writing these types of posts every week, and it was really good for me. I took whatever I was thinking about that week and hashed it out on a keyboard. It was therapeutic, and people really seemed to enjoy reading what I had to say. This blogging routine became a central part of my identity and my online presence.

I even expanded into multiple posts per week. I started posting Stuff Devon Likes reviews on Saturdays to complement my deeper, more thought-provoking posts on Tuesdays. Things were going well. But over time, constantly having a writing deadline began to weigh me down. I went back to one post a week, but I struggled even to keep up with that. I would find myself scrambling on Monday nights to come up with something meaningful to say. I was rarely satisfied with the content I put out. And the technical limitations of the platform I was using were frustrating me and holding me back creatively. I got to the point where I wasn't even sure why I was doing this whole blogging thing anymore.

So I decided to take a break. Just for the summer. I thought it would be good for me to rest, recuperate, and spend some time re-thinking what I wanted my blog to be. I spent the first two months of my break ignoring my blog completely. I didn't even want to think about it. I dreaded going back to a regular writing schedule and kicked myself for ever promising to return to that commitment in the first place. It was starting to look like I might be done with blogging forever.

But then I started traveling for the month of July, and I suddenly had a strong urge to share my experiences with my online community. I started posting photos and tweets marked #WhereIsDevon as a fun way to keep people posted. And as I was taking pictures of the places I visited, I thought to myself, "This is going to look great on my website." By the time I got back from my first trip, I couldn't wait to start blogging again. So I sat down and wrote a blog post about my experience, and I had a ton of fun doing it. I did the same thing when I got back from my next two trips and found that I had eased my way back into my love of blogging.

As a result of my blogging hiatus, I learned a few things about myself, my blog, and what I want this site to be going forward. First of all, I learned that I can't come up with creative, interesting, sharable ideas every week. My blog can't just be about the things going through my head. Secondly, I learned that what I'm really looking for in my blog is a way of sharing life with people. Yes, I want to share my thoughts, but I also want to share my experiences, my preferences, my inspirations, and more. And I want to hear about these things from other people as well. Finally, I learned that I couldn't deal with the technical limitations of the platform I was on any longer. I want to spend my time thinking creatively about my writing rather than trying to work around the limitations of Tumblr and writing new code for every post I write.

All of that to say that the blog is back, but it's going to look a little different from here on out, both aesthetically and content-wise. Here's what you can expect:

1. I moved my website from Tumblr to SquareSpace. It looks a lot better, and it's way more flexible. This switch will allow me to share more types of content in ways that are more enjoyable to read. For an example, check out the way I was able to integrate photos into my travel posts this summer and include a full gallery of other pictures from my trips below each post. SquareSpace will also allow me to use my Tumblr as what it was meant to be: a social network.

2. Even though I changed hosts, everything is still intact. All the old links still work, and every article I ever posted on my old site is still available. SquareSpace made the transition easy and compromise-free. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

3. My blog posts are going to be a little more varied. I'm creating different categories for different types of posts. Some of them will basically be tags from my old blog carried over with new names, but I think this new system will give me opportunities to share with you in new ways. This blog post is categorized under What I'm Making since it's in reference to content I create. I'm hoping to add some video content and some creative writing to this category in the future. The types of posts you're used to reading on my blog where I reflect on what's been going through my head will fall under What I'm Thinking. Stuff Devon Likes will now be split into What I'm Watching, What I'm Using (software/hardware), What I'm Reading, and the all-new What I'm Listening To. That's right. I listen to music now. There will be categories for What I'm Doing (life updates), What I'm Learning (mostly theology and biblical studies), and more as we go along. I'm really excited about this new category system because I think it will allow me to share my life with you in really meaningful ways that I've been missing out on in the past.

4. I will start with one blog post a week at first and see how things go. If I really get into it, I may try to do more than that, but I don't want to burn myself out from the start. As usual, these new posts will go up on Tuesdays.

5. From now on, every post on this site will include a comments section! This is something I've wanted for a long time, and I'm really excited about it. I hope you guys will share your thoughts on my posts either in the comments, through the Contact page, or on social media. I really want this site to be about engaging and sharing our lives with one another. I think that's what this whole social media thing is all about, and I hope you'll try it out with me.

I know that's a lot of information, and I apologize for overwhelming you, but I've put a lot of thought, time, and energy into this, and I want to do it right. I think I really am a writer at heart, and I want to put myself in a context where I can explore and share this passion in a meaningful way. To all of you who have been reading my blog for a while, thank you for sticking with me through my hiatus and giving this new incarnation of my blog a chance. To any new readers out there, welcome! I look forward to sharing my life with you and hopefully being able to share in your life in a meaningful way as well.

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That's all I have to say this week. I'll be back next Tuesday with a post entitled, "Where I'm At." It's my way of catching you guys up on what's been going on in my life lately and letting you know where I am on a lot of levels. Until then, I'd love to know: How do you feel about fostering true, meaningful online community? Are there certain things about an online community that make you feel more connected to it? Are you interested in sharing the deepest parts of your life with others online, or are you skeptical? Let me know in the comments!

Relaunch Video

Today, I officially announced the relaunch of my blog on September 1st! I made a little video to go along with the announcement, and I'm pretty proud of it, so I thought I'd share it on here. I've never really made a video like this before, and I was a little nervous about it (especially the narration), but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I'm excited about the relaunch next Tuesday, and I can't wait to see what's in store for this new phase of the site!

Branson

Hello, friends! I hope your summer is going well. Even though I’m taking a break from my usual blogging schedule for the summer, I’ve decided to write a few special blog posts to keep you updated on what I’m doing over the break. A couple of weeks ago, I did a post about my trip to Grand Rapids, MI, for Nationals. Now I’m here to tell you about my second major trip this summer: Branson, MO.

Last Thursday, morning, my family and I loaded up our cars and headed for Branson. It was a great trip. We stayed in a beautiful cabin on Table Rock Lake (pictured above) and got some great quality time together. As most good trips are, it was exhausting, but I’m really glad I got to go.

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Best go-kart track ever. (Side note: It was rock-and-roll themed.)

The first thing we did when we got there was check out the cabin. It was awesome. It had a really cool layout with a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and two bathrooms downstairs and two loft-style bedrooms upstairs. I ended up on the pull-out couch in the living room, but I didn’t complain because I was the only one who got my own room. Ha! The cabin also had a really cool swimming pool, so we spent our first afternoon in Branson swimming. Aiden even jumped in a few times!

That night, we went into town. We always like to check out The Track when we visit Branson because there’s so much cool stuff to do there. We rode go-karts on the multi-story track, had frozen custard, and played laser tag. Gavin, Jenifer, and I even did the Superman, which is hard to describe but incredible to experience. The Track is always a highlight of our visits to Branson, and this time was no different.

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Aiden was my go-kart buddy! We're wet because we just finished playing bumper boats (Aiden's favorite).

Friday and Saturday, we spent most of the day at Silver Dollar City, the giant theme park in Branson. We rode a ton of roller coasters, ate some wonderful food, and got to take Aiden to the kids area where he had a lot of fun, particularly in the ball pit. Silver Dollar City is a really cool place, and the lines were really short, so we had a blast. Drew and I even rode Wildfire five times in a row. (I wouldn’t recommend it.)

We headed back Saturday afternoon, and by the time we got unloaded, we were all exhausted. But no one wanted to go to bed because we all enjoyed each other’s company so much. It truly was a great family vacation, and none of us wanted to see it come to an end. I had to leave the next morning in order to get back to Waco for work, but the rest of my family was able to have brunch together the next day before going their separate ways.

I’m sad that it’s over, but I’ll always cherish this special weekend I got to spend with my family. It’s trips like these that make summer so much fun, and I couldn’t be more thankful. Thanks for keeping up with me this summer, friends, and I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to. Talk to you soon!

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Group shot at Silver Dollar City!

This is the second in a three-part blog series documenting my travels this summer. If you’re interested in shorter, more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter or keep up with my summer hashtag #WhereIsDevon.

Grand Rapids

Hello, friends! I know it’s been a little while, but I decided to take a break from my blogging hiatus to update you on what I’ve been up to this summer. My official summer break has only been going on for a few weeks because I took classes in May and June, but what a great few weeks it has been! As many of you know, I tend to do quite a bit of traveling during the summer, and this summer is no different. I just got back from the first of three major trips I have planned, and this one is going to be hard to top.

I spent the last week in Grand Rapids, MI, attending and serving at the annual National Association of Free Will Baptist conference and National Youth Convention. I’ve been working this conference for years and attending it for even longer, and it’s always a blast to get together with other people in my denomination from around the world to worship, see the kids compete, and talk about where our denomination is heading. But even though the conference was only four days long, I was gone for much longer than that.

Last Tuesday at 4:00 am, I set off with Johnny (the children’s pastor at my home church) and Mason (the church intern and Johnny’s right-hand man) in a church van headed to Goshen, Indiana. We made the thirteen-hour trip with only one stop. It was incrdible. There, we met up with Johnny’s wife Gail and spent a few days with Johnny’s sister Betty and her husband Fred. Everyone who goes to my church knows Aunt Betty. She is one of the sweetest people I know, and she and her husband were very hospitable to us when we stayed there.

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Rural Indiana is beautiful.

Side note: On the way , I received an email informing me that I had been awarded a scholarship that I’d completely forgotten about. It was a huge, unexpected blessing that really set the mood for the rest of the trip. I didn’t add this little note to brag or distract from the main point, but to keep you guys posted about something major in my life and give God the glory for blessing me in such a big way at such a critical time.

The few days we spent at Aunt Betty’s house were filled with wonderful homemade food, intense games of NERTS (a card game that’s so addictive you should probably avoid it if you’ve never played), and lots of laughter. I got to basically be a part of Johnny’s family as we met up with his relatives, shared meals, and simply enjoyed each other’s company. It was fun and relaxing, just what I needed in order to prepare for the intense week ahead.

We left Aunt Betty’s Friday after lunch and made the relatively short drive to Grand Rapids, MI. We stayed the first couple of days in the beautiful Amway Grand Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids, where there was plenty to do and even more to eat. We spent Friday night familiarizing ourself with the convention center and the area, and on Saturday, we set up the room where we would be holding children’s services for grades kindergarten through three.

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Our children’s service team: Gail, Johnny, Mason, Karinda, me, Ken, and Karen.

The theme of our services this year was “Give God a High Five.” Using five fingers as a visual learning tool, we taught kids five different ways that they could grow closer to God. I got to run audio and video for the services, as well as put together all the presentations. It was great to work with several different speakers to create a cohesive visual theme that was used to reinforce what the kids were hearing. All of the speakers did a great job, and I was honored that I got to work with each of them.

The other big thing I did at the conference was run audio and video for the children’s choir. Each year, Karen Brown directs a group of kids through three rehearsals followed by a performance in front of the entire convention. I got to help teach the kids the songs by playing the music, presenting the lyrics, and consulting Karen on the best ways to utilize the time, space, and technology we had to create the best performance. It was a blast working with those kids and seeing the progress they made in such a short time.

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Children’s choir practice was one of the highlights of my trip.

Sunday was probably our longest day. We had three different services (Sunday School, Sunday morning, and Sunday night). On top of that, we attended a huge luncheon for all the youth conference volunteers, and Mason and I moved our stuff from the Amway, where we had been staying with Johnny and Gail, to our own hotel room at the not-as-nice-but-also-pretty-nice Marriott Courtyard. It was definitely nice to have our own room where we could kind of spread out and do our own thing. And once all the Sunday services were over, we were able to get into more of a routine.

The rest of the conference involved watching competitions and attending lectures during the day, helping with crafts and choir rehearsal in the afternoon, and running services at night. It was a hectic schedule, but it was also a lot of fun. It’s great to see kids work hard and then show their Bible knowledge off in front of their friends and families. I only attended a couple of seminars, but they were definitely informative, and I’m sure that the ones I missed were great as well. The children’s services are really energetic and engaging, so there’s really never a dull moment. And each night once everything died down, I got an opportunity to spend time with my friends at the conference, which was also really meaningful to me.

Wednesday night, we had a combined worship service with everyone from the youngest kids to the oldest adults worshipping together in one big room. It was incredible to see so many people representing so many churches in the denomination coming together to worship God. Dr. McCullough’s sermon on the globalization of God’s word and the need to avoid privileging one’s own culture over another was extremely convicting. It made me proud of my denomination and hopeful for its future.

After service, the children’s choir performed (and did an incredible job!) and the awards for the various competitions were given out. I had the privilege of watching Johnny receive the Jim Lauthern Legacy Award for his work with kids over the years. He really deserved it, and I’m glad I got to be there. After the awards were given out, I spent a few more hours eating and playing cards with my friends. We knew we had an early morning and a lot of traveling ahead of us on Thursday, but we stayed up late anyway because that’s what you do at these sorts of events.

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Traveling is fun, but it’s always nice to see a familiar sight.

Yesterday, I got in a car with Ken and Karen, and we made the journey back to Arkansas. We did the entire drive in thirteen hours, which was pretty impressive. I was exhausted but glad to be home with my family for a few days before I have to head back to Waco. I’m so thankful that I was able to go to Nationals this year, and I am grateful for all the people who made it such a wonderful experience. It was long, and it was stressful, but it was wonderful. Now is the time for recuperating, reflecting, and preparing for what’s to come. Thank you for reading this little update, and I hope you’ll continue to join me as I document my travels this summer. Have a great day, friends, and I’ll talk to you soon!

This is the first in a three-part blog series documenting my travels this summer. If you’re interested in shorter, more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter or keep up with my summer hashtag #WhereIsDevon.

Taking a Break

I’ve been blogging on a weekly basis for well over a year now, and it has been a wonderful experience. I’ve had the opportunity to express myself creatively and to write about all kinds of subjects, from spiritual matters to my favorite TV shows. This blog has allowed me to connect with others and to work through all of the jumbled thoughts that are constantly swirling around in my mind. Blogging has been extremely helpful to me in my journey thus far, and I am so thankful for it.

But lately, the blog has deviated from what I intended it to be. It was supposed to be an outlet, a catalyst for my creative writing. I imagined that I would be overflowing with things to say and that getting them out on (figurative) paper would not only be theraputic to me, but would also hopefully be meaningful to you. And the blog has been that for a long time. But lately—and I mean very recently, not for a long time—I’ve started to feel like the blog is less of an outlet and more of a responsibility.

Instead of writing blog posts throughout the week for enjoyment, I find myself scrambling on Mondays and Tuesdays to put something together that is worth posting online and attaching my name to. And that’s not fair to anyone involved. It’s not fair to me when I’m stressing about what I’m going to put on the blog on top of everything else I’ve got going on. It’s not fair to you, my faithful friends who choose to read my posts every week expecting something insightful and meaningful. It’s just not what this blog should be. And so I’m not going to let it be that anymore.

After much ruminating and consideration, I’ve decided to put my weekly blog posts on hiatus for the summer.

I love my blog, and I’m not giving up on it. I’m just giving myself some time away from it to focus on other things and hopefully recapture my passion for blogging. For the months of June, July, and August, I’m going to focus my writing on other mediums. I’m not sure what that will look like yet. Maybe I’ll write a screenply or a short story or a sermon or two. Who knows? I’m just excited to try something new and see where it takes me. I’m also going to use this time to re-think this blog and what I want it to look like when I come back at the end of summer. I’m sure it’ll look mostly the same, but a little bit of change could be what this site needs.

In short, the weekly blog posts are going away for a bit. Not forever, but for the summer. There will probably be some sporadic posts from time to time. (I am a blogger, after all.) I’ve got some exciting stuff going on this summer that I’m going to want to share with you, and I’m trying out a new app on my computer that I’m itching to review. So I’ll still be around. And the plan is to bring back the weekly blog posts at the end of summer. I’m not leaving for good, just for a bit, and I think you’ll all see that this move was beneficial for the site when I come back in the fall.

Thank you all so much for reading these little blog posts. You have no idea how much it means to me that you would take time out of your busy schedules to listen to what I have to say. You guys are the best, and I’ll miss writing to you this summer. But I’ll see you again in the fall. Have a great summer, friends! I’ll talk to you soon.