Tag Blogiversary

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

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

Happy 3rd Blogiversary to Driving Toward Morning!

Todd R Leave a comment

Fellow travelers,

It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 years since the first post on this blog, “42 is Not the Answer”.  Thank you to everyone who has been reading along, and especially to those who comment and share!

Looking back on my 1-year and 2-year blogiversary posts, here are some thoughts on how things have gone in year 3:

  • I posted 229 times since the last blogiversary, compared with 333 over the prior 2 years combined.  Now that I have a library of old posts, I’ve been mixing a lot of those in with new ones to try and post more consistently.  I’ve been slow recently, but at one point I had a 95-day streak!
  • I wanted to do more posts on history, holidays, groups of quotes, and other thiings like book reviews, but found these hard to come up with (other than the quotes).  Sometimes these (especially the history ones) depend on what I’m reading, and it just hasn’t worked out.
  • I wrote last year that serial posts don’t work well, since I can’t know what order people are reading things in, or how WordPress will organize things.  So, I’ve been taking some of my older serial posts, editing them, and re-posting as stand-alones.  It’s been a good source of “new” material.

I continue to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,”[1] and hope to continue writing for many more years!  However, 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.

Thank you for coming along for the ride

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

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to Driving Toward Morning!

Todd R 3 Comments

Fellow travelers,

It’s amazing to think it’s been two years since Driving Toward Morning’s first post!  Thank you to everyone who has read, liked, and commented on the blog.  A special thank you to anyone who has shared it with their friends or used what they found here to encourage others.

Looking back on my 1-year anniversary post, here are some thoughts on how I’ve done with my year 2 goals:

  • Re-blogging old posts to get closer to posting something every day: I posted almost twice as often, and almost a third of the posts were repeats.  Still not every day but moving in the right direction.
  • More predictable post length: Most posts are now in the 3-to-4-minute read range, with less variation.  Again, progress!
  • More posts on history, holidays, groups of quotes, and other topics: I think this has been the same in year 2 as in year 1, and I want to work on these more in year 3, especially moments from history.

Also, I’m learning that a blog is not good for: Writing serial posts.  There’s no way to know what order people are reading things in, and whether they remember what was in an old post (especially if it takes me a while to continue a series!).  So, I’m working harder on making each one stand on its own.

The Big Picture
Although each year seems to have its own goals, I don’t want to lose sight of why I started this in the first place.  Right after I launched the blog, I decided each post should meet 3 criteria: every post should be Compelling, Clear, and Charitable, meaning:

Is it about something that matters eternally, and is written in a way that connects emotionally and is worth reading? (Compelling)
Is it logical and makes sense, or is it likely to be misunderstood? (Clear)
Is it written in love, to build up whoever reads it? (Charitable)

In a way, these are just a modified version of Ephesians 4:15-16, which says:

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

The compelling and clear parts are the “speaking the truth,” and the charitable part is the “in love” part.  However, the three criteria are not equal.  If I am compelling and clear, I might come across as clever, smart or a good writer, but without charity, “I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).  Without love, I’ve done it wrong, and therefore being compelling and clear should be tools used in service of being charitable.

I am still thrilled to be writing and am encouraged by the impact it’s had on my life, from challenging me when I am complacent, from encouraging me in my faith, and from growing deeper connections with friends and family, plus new connections with other bloggers.

Working on this blog has encouraged me, and I hope it has encouraged you as well.  Every one of us has something important to offer for God’s glory and for the benefit of the world around us.

Please leave a comment on what you’ve liked and what you’d want to see more of!