This week, my blog hit a couple of milestones. Earlier this week, it surpassed 50,000 views. According to the WordPress stats page, people from over 130 countries have clicked on at least one blog post.
The blog has been around since 2017, but it wasn’t until this year that I began posting nearly every day, primarily to go along with a chronological read through of the Bible. My goal has been to post a devotional thought, insight, or some additional background information to go along with each day. I’ve missed a few (mostly when we were slogging through Ezekiel), but for the most part have kept up with it. And now that we are in the homestretch of the New Testament, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
I want to thank all the people that have encouraged me with this project, especially those who are part of The Bible Recap Facebook community. Your encouragement has been a huge factor in keeping this going.
But the second milestone is for one blog post in particular. Back in April, I preached a funeral for a young woman who died of a drug overdose. I took my manuscript for the funeral sermon, edited out her name, and titled it Funeral for An Addict. Unlike most of my other posts, I didn’t share this one on my Facebook page, because the pain the family was feeling was still fresh. But I felt like the message might be an encouragement for other people that had lost someone to addiction.
So I was surprised that of all the posts I’ve done for The Bible Recap, as well as poems, sermons, book reviews, and random musings, “Funeral for an Addict” was the first to surpass a thousand views. By a wide margin. “Funeral for An Addict has been viewed four hundred more times than the second most-viewed post.
My conclusion is that it struck a chord with a whole lot of people. And I have become increasingly aware of how many of my friends have someone in their family or their circle that struggles with substance abuse. If this is you, please know you aren’t alone. And please, please get help. Your life matters. There are people who will miss you. Jesus loves you more than any of us can possibly comprehend. I pray that whatever emptiness you are trying to fill, or whatever pain you are seeking to numb won’t overwhelm you to the point of overdose.
Please, get help.
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