Jimmy Buffett, Taffy, and Church Searches – Stretching Through Blogging Blunders

Today, I have the privilege of presenting Larry “The Deuce” Carter.  Larry and I recently became friends thanks to the wonders of the on-line blog world.  Larry puts out some pretty thought-provoking posts at his blog, Deuceology, and his comments at Jon Stolpe Stretched and on other blogs always make you think and usually make you laugh.  Today, Larry shares how he is currently being stretched.  Please join in the conversation here and also hook up with Larry on his blog and via Twitter.

(I’m always looking for guest bloggers who are interested in sharing their “Stretch” stories with the Stretched Community.  If you’re interested in writing a guest post, leave a comment, so I can hook up with you.)

I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into when I answered the call to guest-post for Jon. I hadn’t followed him long enough to pick up on the stretched motif of his blog. But when he told me that I should discuss being stretched, I didn’t have to think long before I came up with an idea since I’m in the process of being stretched right now.

I have my own blog over at http://deuceology.wordpress.com. Without going into tremendous detail, I wrote some things that I shouldn’t have written. Some of these things were disrespectful of some people who I have known for several years. Some difficulty ensued which resulted in my family and I leaving my church.

There you have it. I said the wrong things in my blog. I left my church. Guess who’s to blame? Oh, I would love to blame someone else, but just like Jimmy Buffett realized in Margaritaville, it’s my fault and no one else’s.

So, how has that stretched me?

Well, it certainly has matured me in my blogging. Despite being forty-three years old, I can still be a bit childish on occasion.  I certainly proved that.  So, I was stretched and learned a great lesson about blogging.  It’s made me a better blogger.  It’s helped me in the direction of my blog.  I’ve so many lessons about blogging through this that I would never have learned.  However, that probably isn’t the best way I’m being stretched right now.

How else am I being stretched? Well, I’m about to begin a search for a new church. While a bit exciting, I also face it with a bit of trepidation. New church. New pastor. New people. It may be enjoyable, but it certainly isn’t comfortable.  Despite my failure, God is going to use this failure in my life to put me in a new place to worship and serve Him.

There you have it. I’ve been stretched like taffy and foresee it continuing for a while.  Would you pray with me as I begin this new phase of my life?

How have you been stretched through mistakes in blogging?  How about during a church search?