Got Fruit… the 1st year
Yesterday was the one year anniversary (semi-officially) for the Got Fruit(?) blog coming into existence. I’ve actually been kicking thoughts around in the ‘ole noggin for about the past month as to what I was going to write about in my attempt to commemorate the occasion. Since then, those thoughts however grand they may have appeared at the time, seem to escape me at the moment.
Well let’s see… I suppose we should begin with why I decided to join the multitude of others on the web in hosting a blog. To say that personal satisfaction bordering on an ego trip has not been part of the ride would be telling a lie; though that was not the initial intent.
I often have to reflect back on the early days of my blogging experience, taking in that initial anxiety of living up to being a reflection of Christ to keep me grounded, as "they" say though.. "I digress".
About mid-summer of last year, I felt as though God was urging me to start this blog. I didn’t initially view the effort as a ministry; in my mind it was simply a way to share some thoughts and ideas learned and gathered mostly from devotionals I’d studied and received via an email list, along with observations from life as they now appeared through eyes with a Christian world view. Being the ever hard headed child of God, I put off the urging of the Holy Spirit for a 
few months, then on the 2nd of October of 2007 I ruptured my right Achilles tendon while playing volleyball at church. Not only had I been sidelined in terms of being able to work; I was also confronted with the fact that I was stuck in my apartment for a few weeks and no longer had an excuse for putting off getting the blog started.
So after being convicted and convinced to get the ball rolling, I looked into the technical side of how to go about this whole blogging thing. Thank goodness for point and click setup routines. :) Once comfortable with the technical side of things it did occur to me that I needed a fitting "handle" for the blog. Believe it or not, the title "Got Fruit?", did not occur to me as a play on the old ad campaign for milk (Got Milk?), it was an epiphany of sorts that came about from reading, understanding and being completely humble by God’s words in Galatians 5:16-21, words that described my character, how I had lived in rebellion to Him for most of my life.
Galatians 5:16-21
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Had I stopped reading at that moment, who’s to say but God,how I would have reacted to how He saw me. Through teary eyes and a crushed heart I pressed on that day in reading the rest of Galatians 5; and it was in the final 3 verses of that chapter that I began to see how not that I could turn around my life, but how God, His Son Jesus and His Holy Spirit could and would lead me if I just let go of trying to live by my own reasoning.
Galatians 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
So… Got Fruit(?), a question that asks "Are you living by the Holy Spirit?"; was then born. The title being a simple statement of my attempt to live a life led by the Holy Spirit. I do believe that trying to live by the Holy Spirit’s guide (though not always succeeding) has been key to keeping this blog and my efforts focused on Christ. It’s this internal guideline that God has placed on my heart which has kept me grounded and focused in the "ministry" of this blog which I believe is to firstly be a source of encouragement to others. Some of the activities that I felt were to be avoided, in order to not lose focus on Christ as the center (2nd Corinthians 5:17) of this thing include:
- having a quota of daily posting
- posting of every mundane activity in my life
- obsession with having or growing a "fan" base ie; frivolous linking, SEO, bloated Blog roll, stat tracking
- turning the blog into a repository of "snippets" (one liner "posts" for the sake of linking to other sources)
- employing technologies merely for the sake of staying up with current trends (video, pod-casting, social networking apps, etc;)
- idolizing the blog/making the blog about me
- concern for popularity (hence the lack of Technorati tags)
Having shared how things are done here, those aspiring to have a high volume of daily hits would be wise to not follow in my footsteps. :) The upside to this rigid approach is that the quality of visitors, comments and dialog has for the past year been a pleasant and maintainable experience. I’ve also been able to reply to most comments;though exceedingly long on most accounts. 
For the regular visitors, it’s probably fairly obvious that most of what I actually post on is inspired by either personal Bible study time, accounts of interactions with family,friends,co-workers and neighbors as they relate to Biblical themes, ideas and views. Another source of several posts comes from visiting other blogs. Often times I may have intended to leave a comment at a blog, but once realizing that my thoughts run long, I opted to write my own post concerning what triggered those views and opinions.
There have been a few posts this past year that specifically address the issue of maintaining balance in the Christian’s life. With regards to this blog, I think that balance has been best maintained throughout the year by not "swimming" in every pond that involves Christianity. Not to say that I 
haven’t "waded" in subjects such as the Emergent church "theology", nor been shy to post an occasional differing perspective or outright opposing view to someone else’s post. It’s been a case again of feeling led by the Holy Spirit to speak on some specific matters at a certain time, but not to let opposition or differing views create a room for a personal agenda to develop. God is still in control of it all, and I think He’s done fine enough without any "help" from me , though I think He does expect us to step up to the plate when called to do so.
Romans 12:1
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
So there you have it, my review of how I believe the Lord has led this blog in it’s first year. Stay tuned for year two.
Grace and peace be with you.
