Courtney Speaks

Do you have your family’s support for your online business and/or blog?  Are they an encouragement or hindrance to you and your business?  My husband is supportive when I’m making money and less so when I’m not.  I don’t really blame him though.  He doesn’t understand the way the Internet Marketing world works.  I’m still learning myself.

Running my online business and blog is something I enjoy doing, even when my income takes a dive some months.  I love being able to stay home with my kids but I need something that is my own and separate from the kids.  My online business fills this need.  It allows me to be creative and interact with other adults, even if it is just online.  As along as I’m happy my family is happy.

One thing I struggle with is not letting my love of blogging and such to take over my life.  My family and kids will always come first but it is easy to let blogging and Internet marketing to take up too much space in my day.  There is a balance that I struggle to achieve at times.  That is when the support of family comes into play the most for me.   While my online business is important to me, my family is more important, and they constantly remind me of that.

Another thing that has helped me is prayer and God’s guidance.  I believe I am following God’s will in my life through my online business and that makes balancing everything so much easier.  If I feel like the Internet is over taking my world, I turn to God in prayer and ask Him for strength.  After all, God is the reason I am even able to have an online business.

So, does your family support you?  Do they understand why you run an online business or blog?

So many times, especially during the holiday seasons, we can get so busy with our lives, online business, and blogs that God stops coming in first place in our life.  We put  shopping for gifts, making some extra money for the Holidays, getting ready for company, etc., all before worshiping and glorifying God.  I am guilty of this all too often.

When I feel like the outside world is starting to take over God’s place in my life I refer to Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.”

It is amazing how this one verse can put my life back in order.

What do you do when glorifying God stops being your number one priority?

Do you let your kids help you blog?  Is blogging a family affair for you?  I personally like to include my children when blogging if I can.  It’s not always easy to do.

I started blogging because I wanted something that was mine.  I had just quite my job to become a stay at home mom and I needed something that did was just mine and blogging filled that void.  Overtime however that need changed.

Now I want to include my children and family if possible.  I want them to see what I do and how important it is to me.

On my mommy blog, it is quite easy to include the kids.  They help me review products and we record some of them on video as well, which they absolutely love.  They also help me pick out pictures to use for Wordless Wednesday.  And of course they are the source of a lot of posts that you will find there.

On my other sites it can be hard to find where my family and children help.  While they may not have a direct effect on content or such, they are now firm supporters of my online businesses.  My husband helps to watch the kids while I work on blog designs.  If I’m visiting my parents, they take some time to watch the kids and allow me to write PLR articles for Christian Mom PLR.

The point is that my family and children have an impact on my blogs and websites even if their efforts are not outwardly apparent.

Does your children and family have an impact on your blogging?

P.S.  If you want to take a lot at all the projects I am working on, visit CourtneyChowning.com.

Last May I had the opportunity to review a set of unique Christian books for children called, ThumbPeople.  The ThumbPeople books are tools to help teach your children that they are each uniquely made by God and are perfect the way God made them.  They are awesome books and I highly recommend them.

I was recently sent a link to a video made by ThumbPeople that shows an important part of being a parent that I often thinks get overlooked.  When our kids don’t feel our love, many of them will look for love in the wrong places.  ThumbPeople’s  hope is that they will re-ignite a desire for parents, grandparents & caregivers to love their kids – unconditionally after watching this video.   Who better to help spread this message than people who can effortlessly touch the lives of a lot of people who already have similar beliefs!