How to Get More People To Visit Your Blog and Increase Your Traffic

From Brent

Most of you folks know I own Linky Tools (which is ranked in something like the top 1% of U.S. sites on Alexa who measures traffic and site popularity).

On the Linky Tools Blog, I teach people about building a successful blog and how to do things like increase their traffic.

Since most of you are bloggers as well as readers, I thought I would share a post with you I just wrote about building traffic and getting new readers. This is for both new bloggers and experienced.

Find it on the Linky Tools Blog here: http://www.linkytoolsblog.com

Spend Time With Your Family

From Brent

In a couple of previous posts, we discussed an unfortunate reality of modern life: a lack of time to spend with the family. Obviously this is a problem that affects everybody to different degrees. One family might lament the fact that it only gets a few nights per week to spend together as one cohesive unit, and another might be lucky to get even a few minutes together.

Read the entire post here...

From Michelle:

We knew going into this adoption that we were signing up to be in a pilot program. We knew that being one of the first families adopting from a newly opened country, there would likely be a few extra bumps in the road. There have been.

Currently our agency is resubmitting paperwork that has to do with the agency, not our family. Basically the government wanted a few simple changes that are easy to fix but take time to send the changes through the proper channels. This is great news for the families that will come after us because they will be able to complete their adoptions much quicker.

We are using a wonderful agency, http://www.adoptionsforever.org/. They are diligently working to find a way to speed things up for our children.

Unlike our previous adoptions, we won't be matched with our children until we travel. We have a heart to adopt children who are seen as unadoptable in some cultures. Since some see them as unadoptable, many don't have the paperwork completed that is necessary for them to be adopted. My hope is that the delays in our adoption have given some of these children time to become "paper ready".

Would you pray that:

1. The meeting tonight with the deputy minister would be very productive.
2. ALL of the children in the orphanage would have their needs met and feel loved. People sometimes wonder how large families care for all of their children. Can you imagine being responsible for an orphanage full of kids?
3. We would receive permission to travel soon.

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Wonderful friends of ours are in the process of adopting 2 older boys from the Ukraine. The Patterson's worked hard to raise money for Abby's Wish and were so sweet to our family when Abby was sick.

The shirts they are selling to raise money for their adoptions a at the very top of our whole families Christmas list. You won't believe how cute they are.

Take a minute and visit their site: http://allarepreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/2011/11/awesome-adoption-gear-giveaway-so.html

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During a rain downpour, the kids played in the water coming off the roof.

My Journey

Another entry in the book of prayers I’m writing… for however it may bless you today:

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My Journey

Lord of the Journey,

Help me to be a stranger in this world,
Holding the things of this life lightly.

Let me be on a journey to Heaven,
Focusing my gaze on the return of my Savior.

May my life be for You, holding nothing back.
You created me;
You saved me;
You give me purpose;
You own me.

I pray for Your protection from every foe;
I pray you’ll crush every rebellious thought;
I pray you’ll burn away every ungodly passion;
I pray you’ll destroy every fleshly desire in my life.

May every fiber of my being be ignited by Your touch.
Help me to love You with

My whole mind, body and soul;
My spirit, affection and intellect;
My desire, understanding and will.

My God, You are perfection among perfection,
All knowledge and intellect is a gift from You.
May my tiny drops of expression flow from Your unfathomable fountain of ceaseless inspiration.

Compared to Your glory, the sun is a dark nothingness;
Compared to Your beauty, the most beautiful in this universe is a deformed ugliness;
Compared to Your wisdom, the wisest of this world is silly foolishness;
Compared to Your goodness, the most noble of us are counted as weak and evil.

You are worthy of an adoration that I’m incapable of producing; the greatest praise I can offer is dull and vain compared to what You deserve.

I pray You will refresh and energize my love for You,
That in some small way my worship
may be worthy to You,
Rising up to Your dwelling place
and being accepted by You.

Only then will my journey be to Your glory.

In Jesus name, Amen.