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Happy 5th Blogiversary to Driving Toward Morning!

Todd R 6 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Has it really been 5 years?  May 20, 2021, is the date of the first post, so yes.  Happy Blogiversary to me!

A big thank you to everyone who has been reading along, and especially to those who comment and share!  I don’t know what happened, but somehow after 3 years of hardly any growth, my number of daily readers (according to WordPress’ standard reports) doubled in 2025 and is on pace to almost double again in 2026.  The chart below shows the total visitors (the dark bar) and the total views (the lighter bar) for every calendar year from 2021 to so far this year.  2026 is already the 2nd-most popular year.

Views and popularity aren’t a goal here, but it’s certainly not a negative!  I am very thankful that the things I write about (which are very meaningful to me) are resonating with other people.  When writing, I “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,”[1] and my hope is to take ideas that are impactful to me and make them impactful to others by sharing them.

A lot has changed in 5 years.  In that time and looking back at prior Blogiversary posts, I’ve learned it’s best not to set goals other than my informal one to try and post something every day.  Using my library of old posts, that really should be attainable, but sometimes life gets in the way, and sometimes I’m just not up to it.  I don’t like continuing to post old stuff if I haven’t written anything new in a while.

But when I think of the growth of viewership, I’m mindful of this story about Charles Spurgeon told by Warren Wiersbe:

“A young preacher once complained to Charles Spurgeon, the famous British preacher of the 1800s, that he did not have as big a church as he deserved.
“How many do you preach to?” Spurgeon asked.
“Oh, about a hundred,” the man replied.
Solemnly Spurgeon said, “That will be enough to give account for on the day of judgment.””

As James wrote, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”[2]  Only God knows where this blog will go, but above all, I hope to follow where He leads faithfully.

We are not home yet, so let us all keep “driving toward the morning sun.”

[1] Hebrews 10:24
[2] James 4:15

Daily Readings for February 23 – March 1

Todd R Leave a comment

Fellow travelers:

For those looking for a Bible reading plan, each week in 2026 I will post 2 chapters to read per day as a main reading plan, and for anyone who wants to read the whole Bible in 2026, I’ll post the extra chapters to read that week.  The main readings will include nearly all of the New Testament, plus Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Prophets, and a few other Old Testament books.

Reading 3 chapters a day on weekdays and 4 on weekends almost exactly covers the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, so the “extra” readings will be about 9 chapters per week.  These readings will cover the Pentateuch, the OT histories, a few other OT books, plus Jude and Revelation from the NT.

I hope this encourages others to read and study their Bible more, whatever parts they decide to read.  Follow along (or not) any way you choose!

2 chapter a day plan:

Monday, February 23: Psalm 54, Mark 14
Tuesday, February 24: Psalm 55, Mark 15
Wednesday, February 25: Psalm 56, Mark 16
Thursday, February 26: Psalm 57, Song of Solomon 1
Friday, February 27: Psalm 58, Song of Solomon 2
Saturday, February 28: Psalm 59, Song of Solomon 3
Sunday, March 1: Psalm 60, Song of Solomon 4

Extra chapters for those reading the whole Bible in 2026:
Exodus 20-28

Themes from Driving Toward Morning 2025

Todd R 6 Comments

Dear fellow sojourners,

Now that we’re into December 2025 is almost over and on come the “year in review” sort of posts.  Curious about how to summarize what I wrote in 2025 I loaded my 2025 Word doc into ChatGPT and asked for a 5-bullet-point summary of themes.  I promise I would never write a “normal” post using Generative AI, and I definitely would never use it without letting my readers know.  However, I am curious about the technology and find it has some helpful uses, like summarization.  So, here’s how ChatGPT summarized the blog for 2025:

“Deepening Faith Through Struggle and Growth
Many posts emphasize how God matures believers through trials, weak moments, and long seasons of slow spiritual growth (like the mustard seed and “blade–ear–full grain” parables). Even tiny faith is destined to grow by God’s power, not ours.

Living as Servants of God in Everyday Life
A central idea is that everyone serves something, and Christians are called to consciously serve Christ in ordinary tasks, not only in formal ministry. Daily life—work, family, routine chores—can fully please God.

Obedience, Trust, and the Danger of Self-Reliance
Several posts warn against the “however” we raise against God’s commands, the pride of Babel, or Pharaoh-like hardness. The call is to trust God’s ways over our own reasoning and resist drifting off the path.

Radical Grace, Forgiveness, and Loving Others Well
From Philip welcoming the former persecutor Paul, to teaching on forgiveness and serving the poor, the posts highlight God’s enormous grace and the call for believers to extend that same radical, healing forgiveness to others.

Eternal Perspective: Investing in What Lasts
The posts frequently encourage readers to prioritize heaven over earthly success—storing treasure in heaven, remembering God’s justice, recognizing the temporary nature of human achievements, and preparing for the world to come.”

And now back to me (instead of ChatGPT).

Overall, I think this is a good summary.  What themes resonated with you in 2025?  What would you like to hear more of?  Less of?  What’s most helpful for your walk with God?

Thank you for letting Driving Toward Morning be part of your routine in 2025 and looking forward to God’s blessings in 2026!

Worship: Why I Blog

Todd R 2 Comments

This post was originally a response to a writing prompt: “Why do you blog?”  This is a great question, because I shouldn’t be spending so much time on this blog without good reasons!  But first, a broader question is: “Why write at all?”  After that, choosing to blog is a second issue.

Why I write
First, we are made to be creative.  We are not random accidents with no creator and no purpose.  Before man existed, the Bible describes God Himself as creative, taking a universe that was “without form and void”[1] and making it into something orderly.  Then He put mankind in a garden, which was meant as a model for what we should turn the rest of the world into.  Writing is a way to take formless ideas and turn them into something orderly.  Creativity goes beyond what we typically consider art.  It is using our God-given abilities to make this world more like Paradise.

Second, we are told to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”[2]  Writing is a way to force myself to think through ideas I have or that I’ve come across.  Everyone has in their conscience a variety of voices, or influences, that they follow.  If we don’t take intentional time to consider why we believe what we believe and do what we do, we aren’t testing the spirits.  We’re just doing whatever seems to come naturally, which isn’t the best approach.

Lastly, I write because I enjoy it and want to get better at it.  Saint Augustine wrote: “I endeavor to be one of those who write because they have made some progress, and who, by means of writing, make further progress.”

Why I blog
Many people write things and keep them private, and I also keep some of what I write private, but the only way writing can be useful to others is to write publicly, and blogs are about as public as it gets – I don’t filter who reads these.  It also forces me to put things in a more “final” form than I otherwise might, thinking things through more thoroughly.

Christianity includes “speaking the truth in love.”[3]  If I’ve found something truthful and beneficial to me, it could be beneficial to someone else, and I should share it.  My writing motto is to be compelling and clear, but most of all charitable, meaning written for the benefit of the audience.  Hopefully what I write here is worthwhile to others!

When writing, I keep in mind:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24

[1] Genesis 1:2
[2] 1 John 4:1
[3] Ephesians 4:15

Happy 4th Blogiversary to Driving Toward Morning!

Todd R 2 Comments

Fellow travelers,

I can’t believe this blog has been going for 4 years as of today!  Thank you to all of my readers and subscribers.  Views have been steady to slightly up, even without counting the 250+ weird hits I got from somewhere in Germany the other day.

After a strong start to the year, life has been getting in the way of blogging recently and my pace of posts is down a bit, but the blog isn’t going anywhere.  I’ve posted 206 times since the last Blogiversary, compared with 229 the previous year.  As much as I’d love to have something on the blog every day it’s just not a realistic goal for me, even though I have almost a year’s worth of already-posted content saved up.

I’ll keep trying to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,”[1] and keep writing for as long as I can.  However, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”[2]  Only God knows what the future holds.

Thank you for coming along for the ride and please pray that God would guide me on the right path for year #5.

[1] Hebrews 10:24
[2] James 4:15