Becoming an Exact Person

I think all serious readers at one time or another desire to be writers. However, desiring to be a writer and actually writing are two different things. I began journaling intermittently and dabbling in poetry at a young age—around ten, I think. When I was in the tenth grade, I remember asking my English teacher if she thought I could be a writer. She gave me a vaguely encouraging response with which I was not satisfied. I did well in high school and college English, and my writing skills enabled me to maintain the B I needed for my financial analysis seminar in graduate school, as my financial analysis skills were somewhat weak. I landed my first "real job" as a technical writer and editor primarily because of my writing skills. There have been a few isolated incidences wherein I was moved to record my thoughts or experiences, but I never developed a regular discipline of writing until I began blogging. Before I began blogging, I entertained ideas of being a writer. Since I began blogging, I actually WRITE.

I was motivated to begin Logoscentric while I was leading my first Bible study in early 2006. I felt compelled by God to share the things he was teaching me, and He has continued to show me things to write about. There have been several occasions when I have had to get out of bed to jot down ideas for a post. Sometimes the posts seem to originate out of nowhere, and at other times, I contemplate things to write about for some weeks before actually recording them.

I have been through periods of near-obsession with blogging, and I have contemplated deleting the whole thing during periods of struggle and apathy. I have been repeatedly discouraged by the lack of feedback I get, especially from my friends. But I think I have finally come to the place where I am supposed to be. I blog simply because it is something I feel led by God to do, because I like to write, and because I am the primary beneficiary of these posts.

Recently, I was flipping through an old journal, and I came across my notes from the 2004 RZIM Founders Conference. I had recorded the following quote from Ravi Zacharias: “Writing makes an exact person.” (A paraphrase of Francis Bacon.) Blogging has motivated me to write, and writing has enabled me to articulate what I think and how I feel about things that I may not have realized had I not taken the time to reflect on them through writing. I am becoming a more exact person. If you are benefiting from my experience, then that is an added blessing.