I’ve been asked why I don’t write much on my blog about our ministry and the work I do. So, whether you’ve been wondering or not, here’s the why behind the non-ministry-related Grit and Glory.
I write all the time for Thrive Africa. Since my husband and I pioneered it over ten years ago, I’ve written every email newsletter, penned each printed letter, hand wrote thousands of thank-you postcards, and typed a reply to every email that’s come in for me and Niel. I write the copy for all of our brochures, some of our discipleship curriculum, and a lot of our website. I receive and reply to about 300 ministry emails a week. I edit every large web and print project that goes out from our ministry.
I love to write.
But when the only writing I do is writing I have to do, I tend not to love it as much.
So when I started blogging (back in 2005!), my intention right off the bat was to have a personal writing outlet. The purpose of Grit and Glory was to use my creativity and writing to share about my life, rather than my ministry. Of course it still represents Thrive Africa in some ways, because I do. And of course tidbits about the ministry come through in my writings. But I approach it very differently than I would if I used this blog as an outlet for sharing updates about our mission work.
I save that for another site.
I co-author our ministry Field Blog where we write about what’s actually happening at Thrive. (You can see the author of each post under the post title.) If you’re interested in hearing more about what God’s doing in South Africa, check out the Field Blog. It’s updated three or four times a week—even when I’m silent on here—complete with pictures and sometimes even videos.
All that to say—I really am a missionary, even though you don’t read much on here about the ministry work we’re doing. I guess you’ll have to read both of my blogs to get a fuller picture of who I am!
