{"id":6372,"date":"2017-01-24T14:23:48","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T19:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/?p=6372"},"modified":"2017-01-24T14:23:48","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T19:23:48","slug":"happy-anniversary-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/original-nss\/happy-anniversary-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy anniversary to me and my blog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was nine\u00a0years ago today that I <a href=\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/2008\/01\/whats-one-blogger-st-francis-de-sales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">launched this blog<\/a>. Although it looked very different when it started out and I posted much more frequently, the overall style and substance of Not Strictly Spiritual have remained the same. I have shared my struggles, my stories, my opinions, and quite a few recipes, covering everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. Thank you to all of you who have visited this site over the years, especially those of you who come back time and again. Even if we have never met in person, you are special to me, and I am grateful.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I launched this blog on Jan. 24 because it was the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers. This is a special day for me, not only because of my blog-iversary but because it&#8217;s my professional feast day, having worked in the Catholic press in one form or another for just about 33 years. (How did I get this old?!?)<\/p>\n<p>In my very first blog post, I shared one of my favorite prayers, written by St. Francis de Sales. This one used to hang on the mirror in my bathroom as a daily reminder, and it has made it into at least one of my books, maybe more. I&#8217;ve lost track. Here it is again:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">rather, look to them with full hope that as they arise,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">God, whose very own you are,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">will lead you safely through all things;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">and when you cannot stand it,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">God will carry you in His arms.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">the same everlasting Father who cares for you today<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">will take care of you then and every day.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">He will either shield you from suffering,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">Be at peace,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_2\">and put aside all anxious thoughts and imagination.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_style\"><span class=\"style_3\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014 St. Francis de Sales<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was nine\u00a0years ago today that I launched this blog. Although it looked very different when it started out and I posted much more frequently, the overall style and substance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,37,46],"tags":[585,243,108,92,48,73,44],"class_list":["post-6372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-original-nss","category-prayer","category-saints","tag-catholic-press","tag-fear","tag-prayers","tag-saints","tag-st-francis-de-sales","tag-writer","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Happy anniversary to me and my blog &#8211; Not Strictly Spiritual<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/original-nss\/happy-anniversary-blog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Happy anniversary to me and my blog &#8211; Not Strictly Spiritual\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was nine\u00a0years ago today that I launched this blog. 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