The Struggle With Prioritization

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't created a blog post for quite a while (though most people in this world hardly care!). You might wonder why that is. Have my priorities changed? Am I no longer interested in sharing with others? Have I gotten too busy? Or am I finding that I can better meet the needs of others in other ways?

I've been thinking about all this for the past several days. The challenge is to re-think what my priorities for teaching and ministry are, or rather, what they should be. While I don't have anything definitive to share, here are some thoughts:

• Right or wrong, blogging has ended up at the bottom of the To-Do list. There are so many other issues in my primary role as teacher that require more pressing responses.
• I do feel bad that I haven't shared as much with others lately. Blogging serves a selfish purpose in that it forces me to learn and grow to provide resources for others. While this blog has few regular readers, it is almost as if the process builds a sense of responsibility to readers. It is as if I'm letting them down if I don't regularly provide something of value to their teaching, ministry, and professional growth.
• I now have a daughter in high school, so as a family we have ties to two different Lutheran schools. That has changed our family dynamic.
• My role at my school has changed. I am teaching a little less, but that time is more than filled with technology integration work with individual teachers.
• I'm receiving more requests from other schools and individuals for help and support. Naturally, I want to fill as many of these as possible, but that also takes time.
• My role as an online instructor through MTM and Concordia University Wisconsin is becoming more important. I really see God's hand in opening doors for me to help other educators in this way.

So where does blogging fit, if at all? I'm wondering if the best way I can serve readers (who I presume are other Lutheran educators) and still balance the priorities listed above is by sharing quick posts with ideas, resources, etc., and move away from larger, reflective pieces on the role of technology and education. That is not to say that I would never share reflective pieces -- only that it would not be my focus. The primary blogging purpose would be to get something quick, useful, and thought-provoking to readers.

Am I on the right track? Would this focus on resources be useful to you? I'd love to hear the thoughts of others. Feel free to share these thoughts as a comment to this post.

(Photo by drinksmachine)