Out with Adsense, In with Good Sense

By: Hallee
On: 22 Feb 2010

Notice anything different lately? Maybe things look a little less cluttered around here?

(No more Google Adsense ads on my sidebar.)

Blogging is funny, sort of like real life only with a shorter attention span.

When I started this blog six months ago, I had a purpose in mind. Over the early weeks and months, that purpose transformed and solidified into a mission statement. That mission statement is this:

To provide encouragement and support for women who are homemakers, or who are seeking and desiring to expand and strengthen their roles as homemakers in their families; to encourage women in their spiritual journeys so that they can have a positive effect on their husbands and their families; to encourage women who are taking a traditional and Biblical role in their home in the face of this world; to provide a source of education and enlightenment; to provide cooking and kitchen tips; to share the joy in raising children; to share the joy and passion in loving your husband; to glorify and magnify God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I never conceived of this blog as a commercial endeavor or any kind of money making venture. It was conceived, primarily, to allow me to fulfill a personal ministry calling that is described best in Titus 2:3-5.

Each day, before my fingers touch the keyboard, my hands fold together reverently, respectfully, and I pray for clarity of thought and word. I pray that my words and thoughts touch someone in a positive way that leads them to the truth. I pray that I continue, using this blog as a ministry tool, to remain in God’s will. My husband prays for me, too.

I love Chrstianbook.com, and if you click through any of the Chrstianbook links on my site, I get affiliate credit. The same could be said for the rare Amazon links and the same could be said for the now absent Google Adsense links. But the truth is that in six months, I have not received one penny in commission from any of them.

A lot of people probably wouldn’t consider that very successful. I wonder, though, if my Creator would consider the last six months a success.

I think of Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers. Then he found himself in prison after being falsely accused of a sex crime and no end of the unfair persecution in sight. How would the world measure his success up to that point in his life? Can you imagine anyone in Joseph’s time looking upon him, a prisoner and an accused sex offender, as a success? Yet God had a higher purpose for Joseph. In God’s own good time, God used Joseph to preserve an entire nation.

If God looked at my efforts on this blog, how would he measure my success? Have I successfully been in His will? Have I successfully leaned on Him and trusted Him to guide me and annoint my efforts here? I want to be measured by that standard, not the standards of the world.

Unlike the Chrstianbook.com and occasional Amazon links found here, we had no control over the content of the Google Ads, and they very often linked to sites that were in direct opposition to my mission statement. We decided to remove the Google Ads from the main blog. We felt they had no place here, probably for the same reason money changers had no business squatting in the courtyard of the Temple. I don’t think anyone is going to miss them.

God bless.