How To Increase Blog Traffic: 5 Easy Steps to Stardom

You've been working hard on your blog, you feel established. Now it's time to get serious about traffic. We're right there with you friend - here are five easy steps you can start taking to increase blog traffic! Hi-Ho Silver!

1. Be Strategic About Your Content

If you want to increase blog traffic, the best thing you can do is quite simply create better content. You’ve probably heard this before - the term “content is king” is thrown around more than a funnel at a frat party. But creating “better content” isn’t just about quality. It also means being more strategic with your content marketing efforts.

The most successful content is the kind that meets a specific need. Think about your audience and what they love. Content these days almost always falls into one of two categories: cool and funny or useful and educational. Choose either and you’re probably off to a good start. 

If you need ideas, check out Quora and see what questions are being asked that relate to your industry subject. Also try using Buzzsumo to see what others have written about in your field, then make something even better. Or use one of these eight handy blog topic generators.

When it comes to content style, shoot for shocking statistics, beautiful infographics, and rich storytelling via video. Create stuff people want to link to and share.

Create Evergreen Content For Your Blog 

Try to make sure that most of your content is evergreen. Evergreen content is the kind of content that can live forever on the web and that time won’t make irrelevant. For example, a post about this year’s Oscar nominations will become useless in a few months time. A post about the greatest movie classics will continue to be relevant over the years, making it evergreen. 

Crafting Kickass Headlines

As a blogger, you should always ensure that you’re creating irresistibly awesome headlines. Your headline is what gets visitors to your site and captures their interest.

Some even suggest that your headline is more important than your actual post! If you have a great content piece hiding behind a shabby headline, it’ll die a quick death. Appearances are everything, and just as you wouldn’t show up to a wedding wearing your stay-home-sick clothes, you can’t rely on lackluster headlines to promote your blog posts.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different headlines. Share your post multiple times with different headlines and see which style works best.

Need more blog traffic? Get our free guide, 25 Ways to Increase Site Traffic, here.

Create a Newsletter To Showcase Your Best Blog Posts

Promotion needs to be a big part of your content strategy, so that your hard earned blog posts drive that traffic you so desperately desire!

One quick and easy way to start driving more traffic to your blog is to start collecting emails for a blog newsletter. Once you’ve captured those contacts, you can send them weekly or monthly emails featuring your best posts, bringing already familiar visitors right back to your website. Since these users are already comfortable with your blog, chances are they might explore a bit more on their next visit. Who knows what they’ll find?

2. Don’t Fear the Keywords 

If you really want to drive big time traffic to your blog, keywords and SEO have to be a part of your strategy. People get really nervous these days when you suggest doing something in the name of SEO, but remember, search engine optimization is fine when done right. More than fine  - it’s wonderous! You get targeted traffic from Google, and users find the information and answers they’re searching the web for.

So go ahead, shout it from the rooftops, “I care about keywords!” Be loud and proud my friend.

They key thing to remember with SEO is all good things in moderation.

Use keywords in your context text? Yes!

Use keyword stuffing to saturate your content completely with search queries?No.

Link to other related blog posts you’ve written on a specific subject? Yes!

Include so many links that every other sentence is dotted with blue hyperlinks?No.

Let keywords influence your outline and help conceptualize your post? Yes!

Put keywords and search bots before user experience? No!

Google drives billions of searches a day. Trust me, you want to use keywords to get a piece of that pie. 

 more please!

With more sites and advertisers online than ever before, all competing for the most popular keywords, how do you stand a chance of competing? Long-tail keywords of course!

Why Do Long-Tail Keywords Matter for Bloggers?

Long-tail keywords are search phrases composed of 3+ keywords. They’re easier to target long-tail keywords (and cheaper when it comes to PPC) because there is less competition for these phrases. Targeting long-tail keywords is really your only chance of getting a top SERP spot in Google.

 Long tails are cool. They’re also fire types.

For example, maybe you’d love to rank high in Google for “health food” because your business is a health food store. Well fat (or slim) chance of that happening – “health food” is a pretty competitive term. However, if you focus instead on “health food meal plans” or “health food on a budget,” your chance of ranking for those longer keyword phrases is tremendously higher.

SEO for Bloggers: Finding Long Tail Keywords

How do you brainstorm these awesome long-tail keywords? Start with Google. Begin typing in a phrase and see what Google’s auto-complete suggestions are. Make note of the “eureka!” suggestions.  

Next, put a few of those terms into Google and scratch down some Google’s related search suggestions (you’ll find them towards the bottom of the page). 

Next, take all the long-tail phrases you’ve come up with and put them into the Google Keyword Planner.

See which phrases drive the most traffic (also take a look at other keyword phrases Google suggests) and siphon out the ones with high search volume and low competition. Those are your gold nugget long-tails! Try to create content targeted around those keywords.

SEO Wordpress Plugins for Bloggers 

There are some great wordpress plugins designed to help bloggers with SEO. They make it easy to set up your URL slugs correctly, help you craft perfect meta descriptions, setup sitemaps, and aid you in navigating other SEO technical bits that may not come naturally to bloggers.

Two favorites are:

• Wordpress SEO by Yoast
• All in One SEO Pack

3. Find Your Flock: Hunt Down Your Audience’s Nest

When it comes to promoting your blog, it’s essential that you’re strategic about where you spend your time. While it’s nice to establish your presence across a range of social networks, you’ll quickly burn out trying to excel with every social site.

Dip your feet and see which social networks work best for you. Is your blog heavy on the visuals? You’ll probably want to set your sights on LinkedIn. Is your blog catered more towards nerd culture? Find the right subreddits and you could strike it big. 

If you’re looking for seagulls, you go to the seashore. To drive blog traffic, you need to go to where your flock hangs out. Know where to find your bird of a feather. Understanding your audience is also key for building strong referral links from relevant websites.  

Use Google Analytics to see which websites are driving the most referral traffic.Find the forums and sites your target audience visits, and get active. Engage in discussion and post links or blog comments when appropriate. This is big – you can’t come off as spammy. You need to be seen as a valuable member of the community who is sharing something of merit. If someone mentions needing advice about scheduling healthy meal plans for each week, go ahead and point them to your resource! If they’re discussing their struggles in mastering the fine art of clowning, you can probably move along.

Once You’ve Found Your Family, Go All In

Once you’ve discovered your key networks, make those your focal point. Neil Patel points out that Upworthy, in addition to utilizing curiosity-focused headlines and emotional content, also limits the number of social sharing buttons they have on a given page.

The choice paradox shows that too many choices can overwhelm and stress users. While we may assume more choices are better, studies have shown that most individuals are happier with a few different options, rather than hundreds.

Upworthy only has two share buttons – Facebook and Twitter. Consider limiting your social sharing selection to the sites you get the most leverage out of.

Want More Blog Traffic? Just Ask. 

Sometimes getting what you want can be a simple as asking for it. A study by Social Bakers found that users who asked their followers to “RT” their posts on Twitter received 73.48 average retweets per tweet. Those who didn’t ask for retweets received just 2.09 retweets.

If you want people to share your content, ask them to!

This goes for just about all call-to-actions. While your intentions may seem obvious to you, reiterating the course of action for visitors greatly increases the likelihood that they’ll follow through.

4. Optimize For Speed and Mobile

Your visitors aren’t going to wait around for your blog to load. If your page isn’t coming up fast enough, they’ll hit the back button and move on to the next Google listing (ie your competitor) before you can flip a flapjack.

Need to check your site speed? No problem! Google’s Page Speed Insights tool will give you your speed score, as well as tips on what you can do to give your site the kick in the pants it might need.

In the same vein, modern users spend nearly 3 hours a day on their tablets or mobile phones. Going mobile is a no-brainer for bloggers. If you don’t think your current blog is up to snuff, consider checking out one of these fine Wordpress plugins that help create a version of your blog that is optimized for mobile devices.

• WPtouch Mobile Plugin
• Jetpack by Wordpress (there’s a mobile theme option baked in)

5. Play Nice With the Other Kids

Good manners go a long way online. If you’re looking to build blog traffic, you’ll want to establish good relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Sometimes you’ll even want to team up with your enemies, Game of Thrones style.

Comment on other blogs and be active in various communities. Consider interviewing major industry loggers or including other bloggers in a “best of” post (for example, Top 10 Blogs Rocking Pinterest). Once you have a blogger cited or featured in one of your posts, tag them in a tweet to let them know. Chances are that blogger will retweet and share a post mentioning them, getting more shares and more traffic as a result.

Linking to your own blog posts is great for SEO, but it’s important to link to outside sources as well. This signals to Google that you’re not a spammer and helps build positive relationship with the others blogs you’re linking to. Establishing good relations also makes pitching guest posts a ton easier.

Follow these five rules and you’ll see traffic skyrocketing to your blog in no time flat!

Source:- wordstream

Some Things Are Just Personal

I will grant I have a few eccentricities. But, far less than the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage has avowed through the years. Listening to her, a person might come to believe my eccentricities are without limit. It is simply not the case.

I firmly believe one man's eccentricity is another man's way of doing something. After all, everybody has a way of doing everything they do. If that is eccentric, we all have a lot of 'plaining to do.

If the tables were turned, I could make an equally infinite list of eccentricities associated with my wife. Since she set the table, who am I to turn it? I keep this as a secret stash to revel in occasionally when I am feeling a little poorly about myself. The secret will go no further.

An example might best illustrate my point. My wife thinks I am a little eccentric when it comes to pens. But, not so. I am just particular when it comes to using a writing instrument. After all, I am a writer and writers are experts when it comes to writing instruments. I could not play a musical instrument, but let me have a writing instrument and I can play all day long.

When it comes to writing instruments, I have my preferences. When I say that, I must confess, I have never seen a pen I did not want to own. The pen, any pen for that matter, has something of an alluring draw for me. I sometimes go into an office-supply store just to worship before the array of pens they have. Rarely do I walk away without taking one pen to the checkout counter and rescue it from obscurity.

I possess pens of every shape, color and purpose. As far as I am concerned, every pen has a particular purpose. I always carry on my person a variety of pens with a diversity of ink colors because you never know what you are going to write doing the day. It would be beneath my dignity to use a pen for a purpose other than its intended task.

Often a certain resident of our household, which shall remain nameless, has made fun of what she calls "Your silly eccentricity." This person is always looking at me when such remarks are made. I am not smart, but I get her nib.

If I wanted to make a point with her, I could say she is rather eccentric when it comes to her tools. To walk into her workshop is to be confronted with tools of every size, shape and purpose. I have watched her work and she never uses a hammer when she needs a screwdriver.

I once confronted her with this and she replied, "Oh, don't be so silly. It's not the same."

Another thing some may consider eccentric is the fact I do not use other people's pen. I jolly well do not like others using my pen. It is just the rule I go by.
When I am at a restaurant and it comes time to sign the credit card receipt, the waitress always supplies one of her pens, but I never use it. I always select from the assortment of pens I have on my person at the time.

After all, I do not know who used that pen last. Also, I would not want to promote jealousy among the pens I do have. This is a rather strict rule I have followed for as long as I can remember. I do not use your pen, you do not use my pen and the world is a wonderful place to live in.

This past week I faced a crisis in this regard. I was standing in line at the post office minding my own business, thinking of the package I had to mail. If you have ever been in the post office line you know how long it can be and the longer it is, the less people they have to serve at the counter.

If there are two or three people in line there are six people standing behind the counter ready to assist you. If there are over 12 people in line, the number behind the counter reduces to two. It is just the way the government works.

As I say, I was minding my own business when a woman came up and ask a simple question. I am used to people asking me questions, but this one put me in a bind.

"Could I borrow one of your pens?"

I lacked not in pens, for I had six in my shirt pocket. It was the principle of the thing that got me. I had six pens, she needed to borrow one and everybody in the post office was looking at me, or so it seemed. My whole world stopped.

With some hesitation, I pulled a pen from my shirt pocket, put a smile on my face I did not really mean, and handed her my pen. It used to be my favorite pen, too.

Even the Bible says that everything has a purpose and every purpose has a season.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

The greatest challenge in life is to discover your purpose, and no matter how anybody else thinks about it, you stick to it and do it for the glory of God.

Since 1997, Rev. James L. Snyder has written a weekly religion/humor column, "Out To Pastor," syndicated to over 300 newspapers and many websites. The Rev. Snyder is an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals including GUIDEPOSTS. In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer, Snyder's first book, won the Reader's Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored and edited 30 books altogether.

James L. Snyder was given an honorary doctorate degree (Doctor of Letters) by Trinity College in Florida. His weekly humor column, "Out To Pastor," is syndicated to more than 325 weekly newspapers.

Through 44 years of ministry, he and his wife Martha have been involved in three church-planting projects prior to their current ministry at the Family of God Fellowship in Ocala, Florida. The Snyders have three children and nine grandchildren.



Article Source: EzineArticles

5 New Year's Resolutions for Busy Families

It somehow seems that modern life is busier than it has ever been. As well as our work and family commitments, there are now so many ways to spend our leisure time; it often feels like 24 hours is simply not long enough to get everything you wanted done in the day.

The problem of being busy all of the time (even though it is a good problem to have) hits those of us who have time-consuming jobs and are also raising a family the hardest. If you fall into this category, you may find it helpful to read the following list of five potential New Year's resolutions you could make to ensure your 2017 is less stressful than this year may have been!

1) Leave the office on time - Even if it's only on one or two days a week, it is important that you sometimes put your foot down and leave your place of work as soon as your day is meant to finish. You'll find that you get much more done in the evenings!

2) Invest in a 2017 calendar - It may sound like a simple step, but that's sort of the point. Having your work and leisure commitments mapped out for the weeks and months ahead in an easy to view format will allow you to see at a glance just how busy you are and whether you are taking on too much.

3) Spend 10 minutes doing nothing - Again, this is more productive than it sounds! Set your alarm ten minutes earlier every day so that, before you get up, you can spend this extra time in completely undisturbed silence, thinking about what your priorities should be for the day to come.

4) What are your two most important tasks? - Speaking of priorities, it is also a good idea to take a step back from time to time and decide which the two most important jobs are that you wish to accomplish on any given day. This is a great way of clearing your head when you feel overwhelmed.

5) Consider hiring household staff - You may have thought that hiring a nanny or other household staff might be the 'easy way out', but this is not the case. Those who have invested in professional assistance of this kind know that hiring a caring and responsible person to help run your busy home is a fantastic way of relieving domestic pressures.

This article was written by Thom Sanders on behalf of Beauchamp Partners - a specialist London-based nanny agency who have been providing the highest quality childcare to clients for over thirty years.

Article Source: EzineArticles

You Can't Go Home Again

The title is the title of a book written by Thomas Wolfe. This book was not published until after Wolfe's passing in 1940. I have read parts of the book, and have concluded that the author wrote of his feelings of anguish. He was a German ex-patriot in America during the early 1900's and he agonized over how the Nazi movement changed his family, friends, and all German people. I don't know that he ever intended for the book to be published. He got the idea of the title from journalist Ella Winter.

It is the title, and not so much the book, that has entered the American psyche. Now, the title essentially means that you cannot return to your childhood. Not everyone wants to do that, but those of us who were fortunate to have a loving family and a beloved childhood miss it especially when our adult life is unhappy and when the circumstances of life has moved us geographically far from our childhood home. It is part of growing up for all of us, to realize that when we leave home to make our own way, we leave the close contact of the family that bore and raised us. With modern advances in communication and transportation, the physical separation is easier to endure, but we still cannot stop being an adult and return to being a pampered child again.

Many parents take solace by repeating the love that they experienced as they bless their own children with love, creating the new bonds in the succeeding generation. Still, even for them, it hurts to see parents age and pass on and when the family home is sold to someone else. We are compelled to see our home as where we are, not where we grew up. But, take some comfort, for the memories, the stories, and the photographs remain, and you can relive your joy of home once more by sharing them with the generation that follows you. That is the way it must work. We are all part of nature, and the natural world is reproductive. When we stop producing, our lives turn toward an eventual passing. It is sad, but it is logical and necessary.

Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, make a home for yourself and for those who depend on you. Love them. Make your home a welcome place for friends and those who will become your friend. You can't go home again, but you can be a good person, someone who embodies the light and happiness of a home where everyone wants to be.

"Sharon Ann," https://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Ann-Tony-Grayson-ebook/dp/B00Q7F3BSK

Tony is a writer, an author of several published novels, and an independent publisher. In September 2012, he wrote and published the first of a three-book drama series, "A Voice from New Mill Creek: The Methodists," as an e-book. In April, 2013, he released his second e-book and first romance novel, "Goodnight Paige." In July, 2013, Tony released a guidebook titled "How Tony Wrote and Published Two Novels." In May 2014, he published "The Star of India, "the second novel in the Voice From New Mill Creek drama series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICK8qpv0a30



Article Source: EzineArticles

The Advantages of Having a Sibling Who Is Close in Age

Oh my goodness, I have no idea what I would be doing right now if it weren't for my little sister and the fact that we are so close in age (more specifically, about a year apart, thanks to my moms forgetfulness and pill-form birth control). Besides the first year of my life, she has been with me through it all, and by that, I mean everything. So, in honor of celebrating another year of her life, I thought I'd make a list of the reasons I am so blessed to have a sister who is so close to my age and my heart.

#1: We Shared EVERYTHING

Whether I, her wiser, much more stylish older sister, wanted to or not. And yes, clothes are number one on the list. When we lived together, she would always sneak into my room and steal my recent purchases from the mall, and I would never see them again. Where would she put them? Only God knows, but I've come around to forgiving her.

When we were younger, I was always forced to share my friends. She would tag along wherever we went, interrupting our conversations and stealing my limelight with her quick-witted humor. In return, I always tried to act super cool around her friends, because I was, you know, a WHOLE year older, meaning that I had much more wisdom when it came to clothes, MySpace pics, and boys.

I used to hate sharing my friends more than anything, but now, I wouldn't change it for the world. We're all grown up, dealing with the torturous twenties the best we know how, helping each other along the way.

We also shared late-night fits of laughter that we'd try to keep quiet for fear of wrath from our parents, making funny faces and telling made-up jokes to entertain ourselves in the days before T.V.'s were installed in every room.

We shared coughs, toys, celebrity crushes, the remote--well, you get the gist. When I say everything, I mean everything.

#2: When Family Crises Arose, We Stuck Together

And this aspect of our lives is what I think kept us from growing up to be psycho loner cat ladies. Being two sisters from a divorced family was not easy, and I'm 99.9% positive that I would not have been able to go through it alone. As we watched our parents fade apart, we clung closer together with every foreshadowing aspect of our mom and dad's fate. And when our parents finally separated for good, my sister and I never left each other's side. We went everywhere together, substituting the hole of whatever missing parent was away that weekend with each other, holding hands and sharing a bed when money was tight. We even gave in and let each other play with the other one's toys (since we didn't have many at the time), and as long as my sister let me control our games, we were all smiles.

#3: We Went Through our "Awkward Stage" at the Same Time

I'll admit it: We were both a little on the chubby side around the age of 12, but hey, those Wonderballs weren't going to eat themselves! However, we both saw our freckled-covered bodies, flat chests, and hairy legs a major disadvantage when we suddenly realized that boys were actually cute, and that all of the other girls at our middle school seemed to have everything going for them, including cellphones! But thank the Good Lord above that I thought it was a great idea to wear a shirt that exclaimed in big, bold, fuzzy letters: Boys Are Overrated! I thought I was being so rebellious, and my sister drooled at the idea that it would soon become her stylish hand-me-down.

Unlike us, all of our friends were allowed to wear makeup, shave their legs, and get their eyebrows done at 13, so we both felt pretty out of place. We were both late bloomers, and as if our school's initials of P.M.S. plastered on the walls wasn't enough of a reminder, we both got nightly talks about "Becoming women," and "The birds and the bees," while our friends got to wear actual bras and go to the mall without parental supervision.

On top of all that, I was cursed with braces that intensified the shape of my uneven smile. Luckily, my sister slipped sweet little notes under my bedroom door after I cried because my family got to eat Subway for dinner while I was forced to slurp down tomato soup.

#4: We Don't Judge Each Other (At Least, Not in a Way That Would be Acceptable if Anyone Else Were to Do it)

Although we do tell it like it is. But you can do that sort of thing when you're sisters. For instance, if my mom were to say to my sister, "What the heck have you done to your hair?!" There would surely be an all-out brawl, followed by a couple days of shunning, but if I were to say the same thing to her, we would probably laugh, and I'd tell her that she seriously needs to fix her hair, and then she probably would (or not, depending on her mood. She's a little on the rebellious side).

Problem solved.

And it works both ways. She is allowed to say things about me and my life (that I'll actually take to heart) that might end in a slapping match if it was said by anyone else. We can always expect honesty from each other, and trust me, it is freely given.

#5: We Make Dreaded Phone Calls for Each Other

THIS. This has been a life-saver when my anxiety is through the roof and I'm too scared to call into work, and vice versa. We may look nothing alike, but on the phone, no one can tell if they're talking to me or my sister. And we take advantage of it... it's a gift! And it's such a waste if you don't use the gifts you're given to the best of your ability.

She's saved my butt on days when I've forgotten I had to work, and I'd make her come up with a really good excuse and then call in for me. She's such a good actress, so I'm never scared when I put the fate of my income into her hands.

Me, on the other hand... well let's just say that I'm not a natural-born actress. The few times that I've called people and pretended to be her, I ended up giggling, and then chuckling, and then trying to contain my laughter while I was supposed to be sounding sick. Maybe that's why she doesn't ask me to do it that often.

Either way, I got the lucky end of the stick on this one.

#6: We Never Get Tired of Each Other's Humor

Or maybe that's just me, but 22 years have passed by and there is still no one on this earth that can make me laugh like my sister. Seriously, she makes my belly cramp up and tears roll out of my eyes over the same sort of things that she's been making me laugh about my whole life, and it never gets old.

And it's great, because only a select few get my ridiculously lame sense of humor, but my sister always laughs the hardest and the loudest, and let me tell you, it's over nothing. At least, nothing that anyone else would ever laugh at. I get to try and be funny all of the time, and if she fails to find my impression of a bucket of lard funny, then it's okay because she's my sister and I know she'll laugh at the next one.

We used to sneak into each other's rooms after bedtime and just make complete fools out of ourselves, conjuring up fake words and songs and then laughing until we thought we'd die (or be killed by our parents). There was nothing better, especially when our family was going through rough times. In those moments, we kept each other sane. We still do.

#7 Nothing Embarrasses Us When We're Together

We try really hard to embarrass each other, too. Actually, it's more of me trying to embarrass a girl who doesn't get embarrassed about anything, while she convinces me to do things that she doesn't find embarrassing at all, so I'll do it, and then become embarrassed.

She doesn't have a lot of rules while in public. I do. So one day, we're in CVS and I'm looking for a new shade of summer lipstick. I find a shade that I really like, but I tell her that I don't know if it would look good on me. Nonchalantly, she tells me to take off the wrapper and try it on, convinced that if I were to get caught that the store clerks would understand and let me off the hook-- because she does it all the time. She seemed so sure, so I unpeeled the wrapper and slathered on the hot-pink, waterproof lipstick. As I'm pursing my lips in the mirror, a manager turns the corner and yells, "HEY! I saw you try that on when I was watching the cameras. You know you're not supposed to do that! Did you? Did you try on the lipstick?"

With hot-pink Estee Lauder smudged all over my lips, I whisper "What do I say?" to my sister, and she looks at the manager, claims he has no idea what he's talking about, and grabs my hand to run out of the store while he yells after us.

"See, I told you it's not a big deal," she says calmly as I'm sweating and breathing hard, feeling like a runaway criminal.

After a moment of silence, we look at each other and bust out laughing. And to this day, I still let her talk me into doing otherwise stupid things, or convince me that "nobody cares if she accidentally puts her shirt on inside-out and backwards everyday," which she does do, almost every day.

I wish I could be more like her.

#8: If Someone Makes One of Us Angry, They Make Both of Us Angry

And it's usually a more spiteful anger for the one who was told about it. She gets mad at her boyfriend, and I daydream about shaving his legs or posting a really unflattering picture of him on Facebook. Vengeful, I know, but I'm not very good at plotting. I do, however, possess a very wide, very educated vocabulary, and I'd give him an earful if she let me.

Yeah, I mostly daydream about the words.

I have to be very careful when it comes to telling my sister about people I'm mad at, though, because she likes to daydream about pounding her fist in their face or breaking their baby toes.

Either way, we've always got each other's back. It doesn't matter if one of us is angry because one of our friends ate the last bit of our ketchup (the nerve!), the other one will be just as upset. I've stopped talking to some people altogether because they've done something to hurt my sister, and even though she's made up with them (because she's always the first to apologize), I will continue to shun them until they apologize to me for what they did to her.

Rational, I know.

But I know that my sister is the first one I call when I'm angry so we can be angry together until our wrath is satisfied. It might not be the healthiest type of therapy, but hey, it's in our blood.

#9: We Always Build Each Other Up

Which is important, considering that we both had to deal with environments that encouraged unrealistic body images, and we've both dealt with eating disorders. We always tell each other that we're beautiful, even when we look like we just went through the garbage disposal. It's because we know each other's heart, and we had to learn the hard way that what you look like on the inside defines your beauty.

On top of being beautiful (on the outside, too), my sister is the most talented singer/songwriter/actress that I've ever known. I know she could be a superstar if she had the time and the money, but right now, she's just a star to me. I have one of her songs on my iPhone that I blare in my car and sing at the top of my lungs, filled with pride and jealousy that the whole world doesn't get to see and hear what I do.

Likewise, she reads and supports all of my writings, and appreciates them even when no one else can seem to relate. She never fails to make me feel anything less than beautiful and talented when I'm around her, and she's done that for me my whole life. I only wish that I'd started reciprocating sooner, but you know how prideful and cocky older sisters can be.

#10: We Tell Each Other Everything

Same as rule #1. Nothing is excluded.

You ate a whole bag of Cheetos in under 15 minutes? That's awesome, gold star! You went to the bathroom in the White House and your poo ended up looking exactly like Obama? OMG, send me a pic!

But it's not all fun and games, though I wish it were. I tell her things about battling depression, anxiety, and my disease that I would never tell anyone else, and she'll describe it back to me in a different way, but it's like she's reading my mind. We both deal with the same mental issues, and because we're the only two people in the world who have lived the same life, we get each other. Sometimes we don't have to say anything at all, we just know. I really do think (when it comes to most things) that we have the same mind, and though our lives are now monumentally different, we're still the same person to each other, and I know we always will be.

When she's hurting, I feel her pain, but I've always managed to keep a straight face, and she does the same for me. Our whole family could be sobbing over some crisis, or the world could be crumbling around us, and I know we would be the only ones with our shoulders back and head up, nodding at each other in approval of the strength we hold fast to for the other's sake.

So go ahead world, give us your best shot. We'll be waiting.

Read more: [http://www.capturingthecorners.com]


Article Source: EzineArticles

Where Do You Look When She's Lost Her Voice?

It has been a quiet week at the parsonage. Far quieter than usual. I cannot remember a time when it was quieter. If silence is golden, the week glowed with a yellow brilliance.

Have you ever noticed when you lose something, it is always in the last place you look? I could save a lot of time, not to mention energy, if I would look for that lost item in the last place first.

Back to the sounds of silence in the parsonage.

When the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage awoke from her beauty sleep on Monday morning, she discovered sometime during the night she lost her voice. It was a strange sensation that bears repeating - often.

At first, I thought I lost my hearing. I am not accustomed to starting the day with such silence. I could see my Beloved's lips moving, but nothing reached my ears.

I must confess that there have been times when I feigned not hearing her, but this time I really could not hear a word she said. Immediately I plunged a finger in each ear to check for any foreign correspondent.

My fingers reported nothing. I must admit that clean ears are a novelty for me. God gave me such large ears attracting all sorts of stuff.

My ears produce enough wax each week to take care of 17 Rolls Royces. The strange thing was, I had just waxed my car the Saturday before.

With nothing in my ears - or between them, for that matter - I could not explain this sudden silence of my Little Lamb.

I am the kind of person who tries to find good in everything. Some circumstances severely try my efforts in this endeavor, but, believe it or not, I was able to find some good about this little incident in our parsonage.

The good news was my wife had lost her voice; the bad news, however, she insisted that I look for it.

Have you ever tried looking for something you hoped you would not find?

Through the years, I have engaged in many things my heart was not totally in full sympathy with.

Such things as Christmas shopping with my wife at the mall; going to a wedding reception for some family member; attending the Christmas play by first graders at the elementary school.

All these activities are good in and of themselves; if only they would merely keep themselves to themselves, it would not irate myself so much. As a dutiful husband and father, I bolster up both chins and go forward.

Being the considerate soul that I am, I submissively went through the motions of looking for the lost voice. (I did have my fingers crossed.)

My problem was: where do you begin looking for a lost voice? In my lifetime, I have looked for many lost items. My car keys, my wallet (especially when the check at the restaurant is due), and my mind, which I have yet to find.

However, where does a voice go when it turns up missing?

I began my search under the sofa and found a set of car keys I lost seven months ago and my checkbook that I looked everywhere for and finally had to close the account and start over again, but no voice.

I spent a few moments meditating in the garage, but did not find or hear the voice of my Beloved.

I looked in the refrigerator - pausing for a small snack without fear of remonstration from you know who. Of course, I may have been remonstrated, but I did not hear a thing.

You must admit that searching is strenuous work demanding refreshment to keep up my strength.

Now, where do voices go when they are lost? Is there such a thing as a Missing Voice Bureau? In addition, how long does a voice have to be missing before you can report it to the MVP?

When you do make out a report, how long does it sit on someone's desk before there is a congressional inquiry into the matter?

The crisis came to a head - actually, it was my head - on Thursday morning. At the breakfast table, I could tell my wife was a little irritated at something, or someone.

Glaring across her cereal bowl, I could read her lips, and believe me; she was not whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

I just did not know what to do. Honestly, I had looked everywhere for her voice and never did find it. By Thursday evening, the novelty of the silence began to get old.

It is rather difficult to effectively communicate when one has lost her voice. Unbelievably, I was beginning to miss hearing that voice, but I did not know what to do about it.

As mysteriously as it left, by Friday morning the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage found her voice. Within three hours, she more than made up for the several days of not speaking.

Actually, I was glad to hear her voice once again.

I thought of a scripture that made a little more sense to me. Jesus once said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28).

Nothing is more wonderful than hearing the voice of the one you love.

Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is http://www.whatafellowship.com.



Article Source: EzineArticles

Planning a Family Reunion in Texas? Try These 5 Bright Ideas

Nothing makes for a ton of fun like having a good, old-fashioned family reunion. While to some people the idea of a reunion may seem a bit antiquated, in this "go-go" world of today, being able to get together with your family once a year is a nice way to connect with the ones you love and hold dear.

But when it comes to family reunions, they can often be somewhat chaotic and stressful simply because there has to be some level of consensus as to what types of activities will be a part of the get-together & where the reunion will be taking place. If you're already stressing over planning flights, taking time off (if applicable), or making sure you lose those pesky ten pounds before everyone sees you, the one thing you want to look forward to is killer activities that bring a smile to everyone's face.

Well, if it has been decided that your family reunion will be in the great state of Texas, you're in luck. The Lone Star State has a lot to offer and quite a large amount of space with which to work. If you're part of the planning committee for the 'shin-dig', here are five different ideas to make your next reunion absolutely rock:

1. Family "Reunion-lympics" - Organized games, kind of like the yearly amateur Games of Texas, provide a way for family members to have fun with one another, engage in some friendly competition, and catch-up with everyone at the same time. Some games you could take into consideration are volleyball & horseshoes that can involve family members of all ages. You could even have a medal ceremony.

2. Record Family Recipes - Put together the best recipes in a collection to be shared by the whole family. Since you're in Texas, this could be chili recipes or even "King Ranch" chicken recipes. Make the title of the 'cookbook' the year of the reunion, which can be nice if you decide to make it a tradition that has multiple editions.

3. "Pecan" Family Tree - Since you're in Texas, incorporate the long-living Pecan tree into a neat activity. Impose a pecan tree on some poster board, and have everyone add their part to the whole family tree. This could get a little crazy in terms of entries, so you can also create a "pecan" computer file to which you add to, and you can use this to create a neat family tree book for each family.

4. A "Bootin', Scootin'" Talent Show - Give the whole family a chance to get their cowboy hat & boots on and put on a fun talent show. You can make it thematic to match your Texas surroundings & sing the best music the state has to offer. Given how diverse Texas is, this can include polka, Tejano, country, and rock music.

5. Scavenger Hunt - Sure, Austin is nice, but why not take advantage of the Texas Hill Country & stay in the neighboring town of Fredericksburg, TX? You're nestled a bit away from the city, which is great because you can have a fun scavenger hunt that takes advantage of the beauty of the Texas Hill Country.

A Texan-style family reunion may be the perfect way to get the whole gang together for an amazing time, and if you're lucky, "y'all" will hopefully call Texas your home away from home!

Visit http://www.fredericksburg-inn.com for the perfect place for your next family reunion to call home.



Article Source: EzineArticles.com