Lacking any way to get my writing "out there" beside Parable magazine and sending unpublished articles to magazines, I remembered the advice of various accomplished journalists: Make a website and post your own articles, because it shows that you're always writing, what your writing is like, and gives people the chance to discover you.

First thing first, I decided what kind of online presence I wanted to post my articles on. A themed website or personal ezine, or a column type blog? I chose column, as it gives me more topic options, and turned to Wordpress. I chose Wordpress as it is a blog platform I don't use for any other blog, and that eliminates any personal or anonymous blog posts being accidently shared there, or vice versa. It also has easy to use themes, and is well known.

My only problem was what to write. I didn't want to open with anything too politically charged, and set the precedent for strong bias. Once I found a relatively neutral topic, the vast amount of apps that exist, I wrote and posted it immediately, and made sure to include RSS feeds and links on Weebly. With that article posted, the ideas just poured out, but I decided to post weekly for now.

As of today, there are two articles posted, both of which received feedback within minutes. Once this blog is more established, I can look into my other online article option, which is to start my own website or ezine.

Lent and Easter are arguably the most important Christian holiday - while Christmas celebrates Jesus' birth, this period mourns his death and celebrates his ressurrection. It seemed only obvious to write a Lent cover article.

In researching and fact checking, I found things that I didn't know, such as the Latin name for Lent, and that Lent is from the colloquial word for Spring. The issue of when Lent ends has always been a hot topic for debate in my Church, and although I am of a set opinion on the matter, I tried to keep that out of this article, for another forum or another year.

Putting this article in the finished magazine caused me two image dilemmas: finding a piece of clipart or free image of Mardi Gras suitable for a Church, family, and possibly sensitive audience, and selecting a cover image that related to Lent. I found a piece of carnival mask clipart and chose a cross, linking the imagery instead to Good Friday, which is what Lent is leading up to, after all.

Unfortunately, I didn't receive much from Church members this time. The Church Secretary gave me the Preaching Plan, which was for the whole of 2013 and means for I have that information for every issue and right from the start. A member of the youth choir and teenage Sunday School group resent me an article which had been lost, presumably in my email's junk folder, when he first sent it to me in September.

Feeling a little behind time, as this Parable will be out on the first Sunday of March, rather than the last Sunday of February, I included a contributions deadline and issue due date before going to print.