My First Blog Experience...Here Goes

I've often wondered why people blog.  Why do they tell the whole world, at least the connected-to-the-internet world, what their thoughts are?  I've thought about doing it myself many times, but never could get past the "oh my...I can't tell those personal private thoughts to every one...people I don't know and...oh my...people I DO know...what will they think of me???"  But yet I've been prompted to write about things for years.  I've written privately, stored personal notes to myself on my computer, my phone, my jump drive.  But why leave them hidden?  I feel a real prompting by the Holy Spirit to let some of those thoughts out.  My experiences and what I've learned from them will help only myself if I keep them to myself, but if I share them with others, then perhaps God can use me to help others.  I don't know.  What I do know is I'll never know if I don't try.  I have so many experiences that I've learned from, and I still learn more every day.  I want to share those with others.  Perhaps my posts will help others.  It is my heartfelt prayer that they will.  I claim to be nothing, but God who is in me is everything, and may He guide my thoughts and my posts to be what others need.  I believe He has been prompting me for a long time to do something like this, but recently He slammed it in my face with a tornado that ravaged my state, much like a tornado in 1998 did just before I began feeling the need to write about things.  I'll explain all that in my first few posts, but I want to keep this initial post focused on the last few days.  God used a stranger, an unknown blogger, to touch my heart in a way I may never be able to explain.  Her name is Carol (and I now consider her a friend), I will not list her blog address until I've had a chance to ok that with her, but her sincere story about finding Mrs. Reba's mailing label in her rose garden and her responses to several comments slapped my procrastinating self in the face in a good way...it made me realize how much good CAN come from a public blog, that my private thoughts and seemingly mis-directed ramblings CAN be used by God to show that He is in control.  God can use even the tiniest, insignificant thing like a mailing label caught up in a violent, deadly storm to bring people together.  It is my prayer that God uses this blog to do whatever He designs, both publicly and privately, to touch hearts and souls.  May this blog never be a platform for MY thoughts, but HIS thoughts.