The statistics of change

Statistics can be a useful tool in assessing pretty much anything. You can take a quiz for pretty much any questions you have. You can find out what personality type you are via various personality assessment platforms, you can see how energy efficient your home is by having a wind test done, you can even track how many people read your blog. I enjoy simple trivia quizzes just much as the next person, but there are some things that statistics can’t show.

Early in the first weeks of 2010, I was comparing my blog readership from 2009 to 2010 by tracking the readership with Google Analytics. As I looked at the pie charts and grids and finally looked to the visit count for each month, I could feel a wave of disappointment rise from my stomach. 2009 had started out well, but about half-way through the year the readership looked to have dropped by half. This development was disappointing to me. Reading the decline in the statistical results of my blog, I began to doubt my writing ability. It was difficult for me to fathom why there had been such a dramatic drop off in the readership.
Was I posting often enough? Were the topics interesting? Was I wasting my time?

As I tried to go about my day, I could not seem to shake the statistical disappointment. I sat down to lunch at a local book group I attend with a friend, and she exclaimed, "Oh, I just read that post of yours from Saturday and I thought it was great!" "Really?", I replied looking confused. Her words of encouragement could not have come at a better time.

She noticed my expression and asked why I was surprised that she liked it. So as quickly as I could, I informed her of the drop in my blog readership. Immediately, she said - "Well I'm not sure how to comment on your blog, so I just read it on Facebook."

"Eureka!" That's why there looks to be a drop!" I exclaimed. About halfway through the year, I had started connecting my blog publications to be posted via an RSS feed directly to Facebook. Even though I had been tracking the readers to the official blog, the ones that were reading through Facebook were not being tracked or entered into the statistics. Apparently, I had not taken into consideration how change can effect the overall statistical review.

It's important that you have all the correct information, before you literally or figuratively throw in the towel of your project, your hopes or your dreams. The spiritual life, like my misinterpreted statistics, can be a place where misguidance can lead to discouragement and discouragement can lead to throwing in the towel. Relying on statistics alone can be frustrating and misleading. If we look a little deeper and allow our heart, soul and mind to be saturated by God's word and direction - staying on track and holding a clear picture of direction and purpose could and would be provided.

One of my new favorite authors, Margaret Feinberg shares in her newest book, "Scouting the divine", about the importance of being grounded in scripture.

"While some may dismiss the Bible as a dusty old book, I view its pages as portals of adventure. Not only is the book chock-full of clever plots and compelling stories, but its laced with historical insights and literary beauty. When I open the Scripture, I imagine myself exploring an ancient kingdom. As I cross the narrow drawbridge into this distant land, I picture a castle with too many banquet halls and bedrooms to count - and enough secret corridors, underground passages and trapdoors to occupy the most inquisitive visitors for a lifetime.

At every turn I meet kings and queens, scribes and poets, all sharing their stories of courage and faith. With every encounter, I learn something new about their life journeys and am reminded that the Bible is more than a record of the human quest for God; it's the revelation of God's quest for us."(pg. 9-10 Scouting the divine)

There are many ways for people to asses their abilities in this world and while it is important to pay attention to work ethic and do our best to do our best; it is good to know that there is a much bigger story being written than the ones we try to write all by ourselves.

God wrote amazing stories in and through the lives of the people we find in the pages of scripture. Truth be told, God is still writing and moving in our lives if we are willing to give him the room to do so. We may have to clear some space for God to work and move from an attitude of thinking we know the whole story to a place of willingness to learn something in a new way. Statistics may give us pie charts and percentages, but sometimes we miss colorful details in a great adventure because we can become too focused on the numbers. In light of my recent experience with statistics, I think in my writing and spiritual life I will be paying more attention to the story and adventure that is developing right in front of me.

In life, there will always be shifting, changing and adapting; but knowing that God's love and word are steadfast helps to give strength for all of us to carry on. Sometimes we need to stop staring at the statistics and run into God's quest. He’s the constant that is ready and willing to carry us into and through the whole story He's writing.

Isaiah 40:8 (New International Version)
"8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."