by Emily Conrad
I don’t write a Christmas letter, but I do enjoy reading the ones I receive. It’s so interesting to see how a year boils down into one or two pages.
As a novelist, I’m not used to being so succinct. 2017 has meant approximately 100 new posts for this blog. That’s a lot of year to review, but this is my last post of 2017, and I have Google Analytics to help me narrow it down, so I’ve complied some of the most popular posts of the year.
As I look back over them, I’m struck with appreciation. Thank you for listening to these stories and chiming in with your own. Your visits to this online space this year have encouraged me and helped me to stay the course, to say nothing of the blessing of your comments and shares and emails.
If you’re newer to the blog or might’ve missed some posts along the way, or if you–like me–just enjoy seeing a review of the year, here are this blog’s most popular posts of 2017:
1. Patience, Trust, and a Very Special Delivery, a guest post by Sally Poyzer
The most popular post of the year is a bit of a surprise to me because talk about wives submitting in love and respect to their husbands is counter-cultural and, let’s be honest, sometimes a very hard pill to swallow. Yet Sally Poyzer’s ‘s heartfelt yet playful example in Patience, Trust, and a Very Special Delivery resonated with readers to the top spot for the year. If you’re looking for a concrete example of what it looks like to honor your husband, check out this post, and consider her book, That Book for Wives, which is on sale for just $1 through January 1st on Smashwords here.
2. Indivisible: Seen, Known, and Forever Loved by a Wholehearted God
This time last year, I was starting to plan a series with a number of other bloggers to explore God’s love. These ladies’ voices came together to create posts that dominate the most popular of the year, taking up about half the spots in my top 20 most popular pages for the year. I’m cheating here and combining the whole series into one so we can talk about other things, too. Need a reminder of how very loved you are? Peruse the series here. Oh, and if you’d prefer to explore the idea through fiction, I published the short story “31 and Falling” on my website as a free download in conjunction with the series.
3. Snail Mail Encouragement From Me to You
Sneaking in with a ranking that landed it in the middle of the Indivisible posts is my offer to mail a Bible verse. The offer still stands. If you’d like a Bible verse to start off your year, check out the post. You’ve got no idea how excited I get every time someone takes me up on this!
4. Why It’s Important to Celebrate (and some book news)
You all joined me in the celebration when I found out my debut novel, Justice, would be releasing in March. I posted the story of how I received the news, and also got real about why I’m sometimes tempted to keep good news to myself (and why that’s not the way to go).
5. A Writer Tries to Help God with Math
I’m so glad one of the writer-in-waiting posts made the top of the list, because this has been a theme in my life for about the last 17 years. I wish I could say I have the patience and trust game down by now, but I find God still has to continually remind me that He’s got my dream perfectly on course for His plans. I might just go reread this one myself…
So that was 2017. As I begin to think about 2018, I’d love to hear from you. What posts touched you, what topics do you always want to hear more about, how can this blog be a space that encourages and uplifts you?
Leave a comment or shoot me an email (emilyconrad (at) sbcglobal.net). I consider it an honor that you come here to read, and I truly want to know how to best steward this blessing.
I hope that as you look back on 2017, you see God’s hand at work in your life. I hope what you see prompts you to praise Him.
May the Lord bless you and keep you as you move into 2018 with Him by your side.
Happy New Year,
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