Who Am I Writing For?

This question comes up again and again in training sessions. People say things like "you need to know your audience" and "you must know who you are writing to" or "try to imagine the woman you are sharing all of your words with." I keep trying to tell myself that I know my audience, but I'm starting to wonder. 

I first started blogging a year or so before Facebook was available to those not using an accredited college email. I never graduated, and I didn't use my old George Fox email, so Facebook wasn't an option for me until closer to 2009. I had mostly been blogging about our family as a way to let my parents, grandparents, and other family members stay up-to-date with what was going on in my life. Naturally, I blogged a lot about what God was doing in the midst of our life circumstances, and things were a bit crazy back then. 

After Cole was born, and our life got to be a bit more stable, I decided to start a blog that was more devotional in nature. I didn't share family pictures (I saved those for Facebook or my other blog) but tried to only write posts that were about things I was learning in church, or at bible study, or scriptures that were really coming alive for me. 

Jovi was born and I dipped my toes into the homeschooling world, and eventually decided to start this blog and gear it more toward homeschooling. When I first began homeschooling, the only blogs I could really find were run by women who seemed to have it all together, at least in a professional sense. They were either long-time-homeschoolers who were also writing fantastic books (Ann Voskamp was one) or business women who homeschooled their two children (obviously one of each gender) and had all kinds of curriculum, printables, and other sorts of stuff for sale. I wanted to do something different. 

I came at it realizing that homeschooling was less about the exact stuff you do and more about the way in which you do anything and everything. I was not a pro (I still am not) and had no creations of my own to sell (though I often wish I did) but I wanted pursuing God to be at the heart of everything. 

I wanted homeschooling mothers to have someone they could look at and say "Hey, if she can do it imperfectly and say it is still worth it, then maybe it's still worth it for my family too." I wanted moms to see that their willingness to learn and was a tool within their reach, a tool that would serve their family and enable them to teach well. I know I learn best when I am teaching, and everything I teach sticks with me far longer and is much more clear than anything I learn only for myself. 

Because I am a Christian, everything I write about comes from my eternal perspective. For this reason, I have a hard time only catering to homeschool moms. While we are a special class of people (not MORE special, just different), I also have things I want to share with women who are not homeschoolers. I hate to kind of "shut out" that whole other realm of women who don't homeschool (and might hate reading my blog because of the abundance of homeschooling posts) for the sake of having a more defined niche. And that struggle leaves me waffling. 

A couple years ago I changed my blog name from "Braving the Blackboard" to my name, joellenarmstrong.com, for writing/marketing/platform purposes. I wasn't convinced I wanted to write only for homeschoolers, but I still have a little debate going on about it in my head. I understand homeschooling better than traditional schooling. I know the unique struggles moms have who forfeit a day-job, a career, or even just the ability to clean their house without people at their ankles. I keep wondering if maybe they are who I should be writing to more intentionally. 

I have ideas about who I am writing for, but I'm still not totally sure. I want to come up with a better list regarding who that woman is before the end of the month, because I think it will give me better direction for what my daily writing should look like in February. I also just want to be more focused about why I am blogging, why I share what I share, and pray more intentionally over the people my blog will be reaching. 

In all of this, I keep forgetting that God knows. God knows who needs the words He is putting in my heart. He knows what route to take, what topic to talk about, when I need to be working on what, and where it will all lead. 

I am sensing a pattern to the end of all my posts. I keep realizing how God really has all these things in His hands, and how silly it is for me to just keep passing by Him while trying to work hard on all my endeavors. He's what I want, and He's what I want for you too. In Him are all the things we all need and to Him I will keep on pointing and turning. And I hope you'll keep turning and walking with me.