420,863

Some time ago I noticed the page view counter on my blog was approaching 400,000.  A few days ago I was blown out of the water to see the number 420,863.  When I wrote the first blog back in 2008, I had no idea it would have such a life.  The first year I wrote 35 posts.  It was 2017 before I reached the place where I was writing over 300 a year.  It was not a ministry I saw coming when I retired in 2010.  I figured on doing some preaching until someone pulled off my preaching boots.  Looking back at the last fifteen years, it appears to me now that God did just that back in 2015 and left me with a ministry of writing JourneyNotes.   

I cannot count the times I have woke up to consider bringing this writing ministry to an end and neither can I count the number of times some reader left such a word of encouragement that quitting was no longer an option.  I am grateful to God for giving me a ministry I did not expect and I am grateful to the many who have become faithful readers over the years.  Those who read, both those who have identified themselves and those who prefer to stay invisible, have become for me like an unseen congregation who show up again and again to see what word God has given me to share.  

I can only say "Thank you." and that I am humbled by your support of what I have come to know as a ministry to which God has called me as surely as I know He called me to  preach a lifetime ago.   For those who read the blog on Facebook, each post is also available at http://billjourneynotes.blogspot.com/ and if you wish it can be emailed to you daily from that place.  Your comments are always appreciated.  Over the years of writing I have come to appreciate the opportunity for dialogue many of you have provided.  Also, I always appreciate you sharing the blog with others as a way of extending the ministry into the lives of others.  Thanks again.  Your support blesses me.  I pray you are blessed by JourneyNotes.