Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Newspaper Ponderings

I am so blessed to have this opportunity to be the owner, editor, and publisher of the Nebraska Family Times!

The job does, however, have its ups and downs! As the person “in charge” of, well, everything, I can do everything how I want to do it . . . but I’m also responsible for absolutely everything. I’m also blessed to be working with people who know more than I do in the areas of websites, layout, and so on, and I’m so blessed to have several very trusted friends who I can ask questions of and can count on getting honest answers from. I appreciate the thoughts, comments, and advice I get from others! It’s easy to see everything having to do with the paper from “my” perspective, but I need to also consider what readers want to see.

Sometimes it all gets overwhelming! When checks are slow in coming in, or I can’t seem to find the articles I want to find, or people are upset about something that has to do with the paper, I wonder if I really AM cut out to do this!

But then I receive a positive comment or two, or a note enclosed with a payment, or someone tells me about an article that really touched him or her, and I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. When I get discouraged, I remember how I prayed before making the decision to buy the paper. I very clearly heard from God, that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

I have so many ideas of things to do with the paper—my ideas and those that have been given to me by others. I want to touch people throughout Nebraska and beyond! I want to show God’s great love for us, His plan for each of us, and how He can guide us through life. I want to do what He wants me to do, with the paper. Many days I wish I could stay up all night, just working on the paper! (I guess I could—I was able to during nursing school!—but at this age staying awake for one night wipes me out for about three days!)

I recently heard Joyce Meyer, one of my favorite Christian authors and speakers, say something that really hit home with me: “I may not be where I should be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be.” And that’s how I feel about the paper. I don’t have everything exactly as I want it to be, but I thank God for what I’ve learned not just since I’ve owned the paper, but all through my writing career.

I thank you, my readers, for all of the thoughts, comments, and suggestions you’ve shared with me! The paper is for YOU, so please let me know what you like, and don’t like, and want to see in it. I also ask for your prayers, that God will guide me in the direction that He wants the paper to go.