A token of gratitude

I've never really been great at giving my thanks to people.  For some reason I get all awkward and freeze up, and any words I say to try to express my feelings end up sounding hollow and empty.

To me anyway.

In any case, I had a revelation today.

 

I am very fortunate to have such encouraging readers.

8 years ago I started my blog, mainly as a way to communicate with people in America that I had left behind.  Unfortunately, most of the people I wanted to share my experiences with, don't actually read my blog.  Somewhere along the way the blog has changed in focus and maturity.  (I cringe a bit when I re-read old posts...)

And somewhere along the way I've picked up followers.  According to Blogger I have 118 people who follow my blog (this doesn't count the people who bookmark it or put it on google reader.)

Of course, the actual number of people who read each post is much lower.  But still, it's way more than I anticipated when I started this.

Sometimes my ego gets the best of me, and I start thinking, "wouldn't it be great if I became a famous blogger?  Wouldn't it be cool to have thousands of people reading what I write?"

Then I start thinking about the consequences of that and begin to think it's not so bad being a minor blogger.  I mean, if I am famous, then people start picking apart things I say.  I have to be careful in case I offend somebody.  And the comments...  I cringe when I go to some sites and look at the comments.

There are so many hateful people out there.

But I realized today, what wonderful readers I have.

Occasionally I get spam messages on my blog, but I delete them quickly enough.  And sometimes I get really strange comments that make no sense.  I have only had 2 or 3 comments that I have removed because they were attacking and not appropriate.

But overall, the people who leave comments here are kind and encouraging.  I'm always gratified to know that people read what I write and resonate with it.  I'm encouraged when others relate to what I'm going through.  And I'm blessed when you share that with me.

Unfortunately I'm not one of those very chatty bloggers, I don't reply to every comment.

But that doesn't mean I don't read every comment I get.  And I appreciate them.

So I wanted to say Thank you today, to those of you who are kind enough to read my blog and return.

and especially thank you to all those who leave encouraging words for me.

I'm glad that even though we may not know who the other is, we can encourage and support each other in love.

In an internet full of hate, I'm blessed to have a small corner that has been blessed with love.

Thank you.

And God bless.