One of my greatest fears as a blogger is writing about things that people don’t care about. Too often I see bloggers (and other writers) practicing their craft in complete isolation from the real world.

And if you look at the tagline under my blog title, then it’s easy to see what I’m all about. On my About page, I describe it this way…

(1) To be REAL. Our interactions and discussions aim to be honest and authentic in nature. This is a place where people can express what they really feel about living out their faith.

(2) To be RELEVANT. What we do should be focused on real-life application of the Word of God to our families, job, ministries, or any other aspect of our lives.

(3) To be FAITH-centered. God is at the center of everything that we do and discuss. Without Him, what we do would be meaningless.

One of the best ways that I’ve found to stretch myself in this way is to practice writing about the things that other people are talking about (inside AND outside the church). Tools like Google Trends help me to figure out what exactly that is.

If you’re a blogger, then consider letting yourself be stretched a little bit. You’ll grow as a blogger. I promise.

Here’s how it works:

1. Pick a topic from the top 20 Hot Searches list at Google Trends.
2. Write a post at your blog not to exceed 250 words (to be posted on Wednesday).
3. Share the link to your post below using the Simply Linked widget.
4. Leave a comment here about what you learned most from this challenge.

Even if you’re not a blogger, then check out the cool posts that others submit here. There should be some pretty interesting conversations brewing!