Blogger Sharing

Yesterday Tom brought home another old hutch from the curb. When he came into the house and told me about it, at first I said, "Oh no! Not another hutch!"

Oh, I love hutches, of course. But within the walls of this Craftsman Bungalow are places for only so many. And we have, hmmm. Nine or ten spread throughout these autumn-colored rooms. 

I'm addicted to books so our hutches support me in my book habit. My dish habit, also.

But I found a place for this latest hutch, this last hutch as I firmly told Tom while we heeved and hauled it up our snowy front porch steps. We squeezed it into our sunroom, then decided we will share this one. Tom likes to pack his Ebay boxes in the sunroom while watching tv on weekends, so now he has a real out-of-the-way cupboard and drawer for his packing supplies, instead of just hiding them between the recliner and the wall.

Sharing. A good marriage requires immeasurable sharing. A bedroom, a bathroom and all other rooms. Cars, chores, money, time, the TV, the computer, the last word, disciplining children, meals, taking turns at answering the door and the phone and running errands. And so much more.

And then there's a type of sharing we as bloggers do. We share pieces from our lives, almost like pieces from a pie. And because we cannot serve the whole pie, we are sometimes misunderstood or even, not understood fully enough.

But still we blog. Still we present a certain vulnerability as we grow and learn--and write about the bits we decide to expose. And often, unknowingly, we help others grow and learn, also.

But without vulnerability--without risking being misunderstood or maligned--we will help very few people. That is true in any form of teaching. More people will respond to an open, visible heart than one only peeking over and speaking from behind a don't-hurt-me wall. And people who want to be good teachers, or helpers of any kind, will let God tear down the walls they've spent years and years erecting brick-by-brick. No matter how scarey or painful that may be.

At least, that's been my experience.


The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
--William Arthur Ward