Looking for new blogs to follow, I have begun to discern which I like to follow. So for the next few days, I will highlight a few of the writers I enjoy.

In general, I am not following single issue writers. Despite the advice that seems prevalent to beginning posters, I think it isn’t necessary to focus a blog by subject. On the other hand, one of my constant reads is Charlene Bullard’s “Faith to Raise Nate.” A single mother, Charlene writes about her now adult son, Nate, who was born with a rare genetic disorder, CHARGE syndrome, leaving him blind, deaf and mentally challenged. She writes truthfully about the range of emotions and challenges mothering such a child brings. Charlene, a devout Christian, also includes her faith as she writes. But unlike some religious writers I have scanned, she is not proselytizing, but rather recounting the strength her faith gives her. So no reader feels excluded for not sharing her faith.

I have followed a Philippine woman, Arlene, who writes “Dreams and Escapes” since I began posting. Arlene was one of my first readers, and it has been very rewarding to give to and receive comments from her. Arlene writes about her reading, her family, her Catholic faith, the weather, and general philosophical musings. I follow her for the consistent sense of a warm, loving person that comes through everything she writes. It feels like having a cup of tea with a good friend when I open one of her posts. Her blog reminds me that regular life is fascinating by itself, and is experienced in a very similar way between two grandmothers separated by thousands of miles.

Who do you enjoy reading?