The Other Side of Darkness Turns 2!

bloggingToday officially marks the 2 year anniversary of The Other Side of Darkness blog! I am very excited about moving into toddler hood with my blog! I remember very clearly two years ago how this blog came to be. Since it was October I was on a quest to spread the truth about the evils of Halloween. I spent time on various Facebook pages and would try to let people know, that as an ex witch Halloween was not just fun and games.

One person from a group sent me a private message and wanted to talk to me more about Halloween and my perspective as an ex witch. She felt very strongly that Halloween was not something that Christians should celebrate, but her family loved the holiday. So we chatted for a bit over instant message. I remember her saying “I wish you had a blog so I could just send people to it and they could hear all of this truth.” That really sparked an idea in me at that moment.

I can’t really take the credit for the idea though, as I know it was completely the Holy Spirit. As we continued to talk we decided to record an interview over Skype and she would publish it on YouTube. We had quite a few problems and even had to record it twice, but were able to get it up just before Halloween. I was so passionate about telling the truth about Halloween and the idea of writing a blog was really brewing in my head.

I told my husband about the idea and asked him to pray. We both felt the Lord calling me to start a blog to tell my story and testimony of what He has done. I am no stranger to writing or blogging. I have been writing since I was 13 years old. I started out with poetry and then moved into short stories. I loved to write and continued to do so for another 10 years, until my depression killed all my desire to write anymore.

Then in 2008 I decided to start my first blog. I can’t exactly remember what it was about, but I think it was motherhood. I was hosted free by Blogger and I didn’t end up writing much. Then eventually I decided to try to put more effort into a blog to try to make money. I was a stay at home mom and I really wanted to earn some money for our family. At that time I was cloth diapering, and I had become extremely knowledgeable about all things cloth diapering. So I created my first website about natural parenting, called Eco Baby Buzz. I created the website from scratch.

That also did not work out and I decided to give it another go, this time focusing strictly on cloth diapering, since I learned having a niche was the best way to have a blog. I called this blog The Cloth Diaper Connection, and I also created it from scratch and wrote everything on the site. It was a very good blog I think! I used something called SBI to help build the site and host it. It was expensive and the site did not make any money, so after a year, I turned the rights over to SBI because I didn’t want to take the site down completely. It is still there today!

So when I decided to write this blog, I already had experience and knowledge and a love for writing. All I needed now was a name. I tried brainstorming some names, but when The Other Side of Darkness popped into my head, I knew it was perfect, and I knew it was from the Lord! I asked my husband to pray about it as well, and of course he felt strongly that it was the right name. All I had left to do was create the site!

I spent several weeks writing non stop as I began to tell the story of my life. At least, from what I remembered at that time. I had so many holes in my childhood that I really could not say much about it, so my life story begins at about age 13, which is when I have clear memories of my life. I was so excited to write again! I felt such joy as the words easily poured out of me. It is easy to write when you are just retelling your life. The real challenge came when I came to the end of my story (current time for me) and had to decide where to go from there.

As I went along I kept praying for vision and insight into what God wanted from my blog. I knew I was doing this to glorify Him, so I wanted to make sure I did so. I had a very bumpy first year, because it is very hard to get a blog into the world so people can actually find it. I tried to post it on Facebook or wherever I could think to, but the first year ended with maybe 10 subscribers and an average of 3-8 views a day for the first 8 months.

In October 2015 God really elevated my testimony when a YouTube video I did of my testimony went viral all over Facebook and I saw traffic increase to 1000 a day! It was such a huge miracle! I had come from a year of not even writing consistently because I felt so discouraged. I have put my heart and soul into everything I write. I have put myself out for the whole world to see, in order to share the Gospel and the testimony of the Lord, and just became so disheartened when I barely had any visitors. So this huge influx gave me such great hope!

After that I had several interviews right before Halloween. Everyone wanted to hear from the ex witch turned Christian about Halloween. It felt great and I felt like God was really moving through my blog and testimony. I got super excited about traffic increase permanently. God had given me several promises about elevating my testimony and what He was going to do with it, so I thought “this is it!”. However, it did not continue.

By December of 2015 traffic had decreased greatly, but it was still much more than the 8 visitors a day I had before. It raised to around 100 a day. I had to constantly remind myself to be patient and keep faithful. I set a schedule to post every week instead of when I felt like it. I committed to working on my blog no matter how many people came to it. I just could not see the big picture of what God was doing, so I just tried to keep my head down and keep plugging along.

Then in May, Charisma magazine started picking up some of my blog posts and YouTube videos. Again I saw a great wave of traffic coming in, and since then traffic has increased to nearly 200 a day. So it has been a huge blessing. I have also seen my subscribers go from 10 to 275! It really is a huge blessing to see my baby start to walk. I have been nurturing and loving my blog and to see it finally on it’s feet, is so sweet to me.

I am so thankful to God for all He has done with my blog. I am thankful that He has helped me gain some perspective that my blog is still very young and it takes time to grow to maturity. I am thankful that I have an outlet to write again, because it brings me so much joy. And I am so thankful that God has given me this platform to share the truth! Who am I that I should have any platform whatsoever, no matter how small? Yet here I am!

God is so good and so faithful and so loving. He is with us, guiding us towards His plan for us. Sometimes I really have a hard time seeing what God’s bigger plan is for me, but I have been faithful even in the little things. I really think that is what is important. We often get so caught up in the middle of it all and can’t see out. We have no idea what things God really is doing, because we don’t have that perspective He does. But if we just stay faithful to what is right in front of us, and keep close to our Father, we will see the outcome. It does not matter how long that takes. Abraham waited 25 years to see the promise of his son come true! God never fails on His word. We just have to trust.

If you are waiting on a promise from God, or just starting out on a path He has laid out for you, just know this: there is nothing more important than your relationship with Him. It is that relationship that will keep you on track, and keep you strong when the waters get rough. It is the intimacy that will help you know Him more, and know that He is true to His word and that He really cares about you and wants good things for you! So no matter what, stay close to your Father, and just keep following Him. He loves you! He is good!

I am so thankful to everyone who has been following my journey. I am so happy that you find any blessing from whatever is on this site. It is all from our Father God, and I pray many more blessings to you and yours.

11 comments

  1. Madelene Pettersson

    This is the first time I comment on your blog – I just want to say Happy Anniversary and thank you (also for your videos on YouTube! What you are doing is of great importance and I hope more and more finds your work.

  2. Claire Buell

    Finding your site and listening to your teachings and your own experiences have been so tremendously enlightening. I share much of your past experiences….sexual abuse, alcohol abuse, promiscuity due to the sexual abuse and it has been a very difficult road for me as well. I ruined my reputation where I am from (it is a very small town in the south) due to my behaviors and I was always called a slut, whore and even 30 years later these same people still call me these things and even though I am saved and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, none of the people from my past let me live anything down. It is difficult sometimes but I know that I must continue to trust the Lord and He will walk me through. But hearing your story makes me realize that I while I have lived a messed up life in the past, I am different now, a completely new person, and God see’s me through His son, Jesus. Praise God!! Your story has just really given me a sense of freedom and the ability to let go of a lot of the hurt. Some of the same people from my past that trash my name to this day are some of the same people who abused me. Ironic isn’t it? Anyway, thank you for all you are doing and keep up the great work. I will press on with the grace of God as well!! May God continue to bless you and your family!!!

  3. Jayme Frazee

    Beth, I have just recently been turned on to your blog because of several videos that I have watched. I was raised to not celebrate Halloween. As a child I never understood, and when I became a teenager my mother allowed me to “venture out” one Halloween. Is the only year I ever celebrated it. It was a total disaster. I knew in my spirit that Christians (or anyone) should celebrate it. Once I started having children, I was adamant about not celebrating it. I caught all kinds on grief from EVERYONE! But, I didn’t care, I wasn’t backing down. People would ask me why or why not, and I really didn’t have a “good” explanation. Now that I have watched your videos, and read your blog, I can now explain to anyone who asks in a way that’s understandable! I appreciate you and your obedience to the Holy Spirit.

  4. Alan Ross

    Thankyou Lord for your servant
    Keep on keeping on Beth…demonic spirits cannot stand against Yahweh…
    If I’m honest when I read some of your blogs they challenged me even unsettled me…however, saplings need strengthened by the Son to weather the storms and growth can seem tough at times…
    Keep growing in Humility sister…our Lord is greater He can do all things

  5. Debra

    Hi Beth! I look forward to every Monday to receive your blog! I had deliverance back in March of this year and it was a life changer! I now know the power of the Blood! From reading your blog and my deliverance experience, we will not be opening our doors on Halloween night. I pray for you and your family regularly, Beth! God bless you and thank you for exposing the Truth in Jesus Name!

    1. Debra

      Exposing the truth about deliverance as it has been my experience that it is not taught in the church (Es) I have attended.

Leave a Reply