Monday, December 30, 2013

New Year, New People, New Schedules

God has really blessed us this last year. In so many ways He’s proven Himself faithful time and time again. With the new year racing toward us at breakneck speed, we’ve been figuring out last-minute things in changes to the blog. Since the magazine is gone, the writers will now be writing directly on here instead of publishing them in the magazine. So now, I’m pleased to introduce….
 

Our New Writers

Bonnie     Bonnie (New Zealand):
Bonnie is the second eldest in a homeschooling family of nine children. She plays the violin and piano and loves dancing and singing. Among other things, some of her hobbies include playing and umpiring netball, sewing, writing, climbing trees, crocheting and knitting, drawing pictures, taking photos and playing practical jokes on people. She blogs at Bonnie’s Blessings.

Cosette

     Cosette (United States):

Hi! I am a Christian homeschool girl who strives to build her relationship with her Saviour, Jesus Christ. I live in Maine and love it! The best part about my life is the music in my heart that God provides day by day. Learn more about that music at Day by Day.


Rhoda

   Rhoda Newton (New Zealand):
Rhoda Newton lives in the beautiful South Island of New Zealand, with her parents and four younger brothers. She was baptised into the Reformed Church of Oamaru as an infant, and joined the church as a communicant member in November 2012. She and her brothers have never been to school. She blogs at Serving With Joy, with the aim of encouraging young women to serve God whole-heartedly, never forgetting the joy of life in Christ.

 
Andrea     Andrea Groff (United States):
I’m the oldest of 8 children and a college student pursuing a degree as a Registered Nurse. I served on the mission field for two years in Nicaragua as a personal worker—teaching Bible studies and visiting the natives. Mission work is my heart’s cry. I blog at Committed To His Service.
 
 

Our New Schedule for Posting on the Blog

With the new year, we’ve come up with a weekly format for posting here:
day of the week subject author
Sunday Devotional Esther
Monday
Tuesday Edifying Words1 Rachel
Wednesday Recipes2 Team/You3
Thursday
Friday Story/Article Team/You3
Saturday
      1Edifying Words—little bits of what used to be put in the Encouragement Page
      2This would be once every two weeks
      3Team/You—this will be supplied both by the JOJ Team and by you, our readers

I would do a short devotional (well, something along those lines anyway…) on Sunday—and try to keep it to three reasonable-length paragraphs. :) I don’t think I have that many problems coming up with an article like that.

Rachel will be doing the “Edifying Words”. She was the one who gathered things together for the Encouragement Page, but since the magazine is gone she will just switch to doing that on the blog (unless, of course, she has something bigger to share—which would be fine as well!).

The recipes would also be a carry-over from the magazine. I still have one recipe from being submitted to go into the magazine left, which we can hopefully post sometime in January. I think it would be nice if we shared one recipe every other week or so. This is something that we want you, our readers, to help with—if you have a recipe to share, feel free to drop by the Submissions page where you can send it in. If we have no recipes, we won’t post any. But if we do we’ll try our level best to get it posted! :)

Friday, the “story” day, would also include articles that our team members write, or possibly guest posts if anyone wants to do that.

Hopefully, the weekly schedule can run something like this:

1st Friday of the month Bonnie
2nd Friday of the month Cosette
3rd Friday of the month Rhoda
4th Friday of the month Andrea

Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and every other Wednesday are free. This is where the best time would be for you, our readers, to do guest posting. Remember, a community like this is not only held up by those who write—it’s also made up of those that read. :)

Alright. This turned out long enough! Hopefully it’s all understandable. :)

Many blessings,
Esther
for the JOJ team


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And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”Colossians 3:17 (NIV)