Tuesday 16 April 2013

Does God Care About Blog Design?

"You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty." (Ex 28:2)
This verse has been rolling around in my head ever since I read it a couple months ago.  It had been a bit hard slogging through that section of Exodus, and I wasn't too excited about Chapter 28 "Garments of the Priests".  But my perspective changed quickly after reading verse 2, quoted above.  God didn't come up with the requirements for the priestly garments because He wanted to be particular for no good reason, He cared (and cares) about beauty and glory.

I've thought about that verse numerous times since then when getting dressed, setting the table, wrapping presents, and doing other tasks which we may be tempted to think God doesn't care about.  I believe it is good to make things lovely, and that God delights when we attempt to create beautiful things for HIS glory.  When I try to dress beautifully it should not be for vanity's sake, but to please my husband and to be a picture of femininity and modesty which the Lord delights in.  When I set the table nicely, I am not trying to be a picture of the perfect housewife, but to take pleasure in my role as keeper of the home, and to create a haven of peace for my family and others who enter our home.  When I wrap a present I do not try to select the most expensive wrapping to impress the recipient, but I want to show them that I care enough to make their gift look lovely.    In all things, we should not strive for beauty as an end, but as a means of glorifying God.


So, today, as we reveal our new blog design - I want to say that Yes!  God does care.  Our prayer for this blog has always been that God would use it to encourage His people, in as large or small a capacity as He sees fit, and we hope that this new design will be one way God draws people to seek what truth we have to share.

 

Highlights of our New Design

  • You can now connect with us through any or all of the five social networking options at the top left-hand.  There you'll be able to easily see new posts, and also find resources which support our vision to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.
  • The drop-down menu above makes it easy for you to find posts on topics which interest you.  As we are a new blog, we don't have posts in all the categories up yet, but those are topics which you can expect to see content on in the future.
  • Popular Posts is always the section I check out first when I head to a new blog, and so we wanted it to be easily available to you - over there in the left-hand column.
  • One aspect we are really excited about, is to introduce you to our two sponsors, Monticello Soap Company and Polkadots.  Both of these businesses are run by lovely ladies (one a stay-at-home mom and one a homeschooling graduate), and we are so happy to be able to support them in this way! You can read more about their companies and how we met them on Our Sponsors page.  We really hope you'll check them out and show them some love - whether by liking their Facebook page, sending an encouraging comment, sharing about them or buying one of their quality products!

We are so thankful to Heather Rae of An Original Belle, who created the design for us.  She was great to work with and did an amazing job of taking the vision we had and making it into a beautiful and cohesive look.  We highly recommend her!





11 comments:

  1. I've never thought about beauty that way. It's a wonderful picture of how we should live our lives.

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  2. Looks fantastic! And I wholeheartedly agree about the priest's clothing .

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  3. I've never read a better, more inspiring blog-makeover post before! I remember listening through the Bible and having that verse jump out too (like you said, some of the rest of that part of Exodus can be a bit tough going!)

    Love the new look!

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    1. Thanks SO much, Anna. You're encouraging words mean alot! :)

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  4. Congratulations on a new site design! I also just moved my blog to a newly designed site, and it was so exciting. I'm new to yours, so I can't make a comparison, but this has a wonderfully clean and organized feel to it.

    I'm joining you from the Raising Homemakers link up. Wishing you the best!

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    1. Hi Kristen! I had been to your blog before a few times - I love the new look! So glad to be in this blogging adventure with you - it is all very exciting, isn't it!?

      Stephanie

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  5. Looks great, I've been thinking about getting my blog 'designed' - will check out your blog design friend. Thanks. (Found your link at What Joy is Mine.)

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  6. Stephanie...thought provoking post. Love the organization and beauty of your blog. Thank you for sharing at WJIM. Blessings.

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    1. Thanks for your kind comments Naomi! And for hosting the link-up :)

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