Skip to content ↓

One of the unique features of this blog is the little counter down in the bottom right of the site. It’s a little feature that simply increments by 1 number each day. Today it stands at 2,920.

What this means is that it was 2,920 days ago that I decided to make this blog an every day affair. Divide 2,920 by 365 and you get 8, which means that it has now been 8 years since I made that decision to blog every day (and since I began to keep that commitment). Even though this site dates back to September of 2002, which is when I registered the domain name challies.com, it was about a year later that the blog really became what it is today–or, at least, that it began to become whatever it is today.

It was back then, at the very end of October 2003, that I decided to blog every day for a year. Even though the site had been in existence for a year, it was not going very well. I wasn’t at all committed to the site and was adding a new article only every week or two. I decided that I needed to either make it into something worthwhile or just give up and find something else to do with my time. I set the challenge: I would blog every day for a year or I would throw in the towel and find a new hobby. So I set out with the daily blogging. It wasn’t always easy and the results weren’t always good, but things improved over the course of the year. When the end of that first year came around, I decided to recommit to the daily writing and have done so ever since.

Some people have suggested I need to ditch this counter–that it is in some way prideful. I don’t see it that way. I see it as a little bit of the site’s history and something that I’d hesitate to remove. Yes, 2,920 seems like a silly number, but I guess it just reminds me of when the number was 2 or 200 or 365–when I was using it as motivation to slog through another day on my goal to 1 year of daily blogging. I hardly ever look at it anymore, but I’m glad that it’s there, day after day, slowly incrementing just like it’s done every day for 8 years.


  • Let the Lord Choose

    Let the Lord Choose

    Though we are limited beings with little knowledge, we are proud beings with little humility. When Jesus taught us to pray, he taught us to bring our petitions before the Lord, to bring to him all our cares, all our burdens, all our sorrows. We can and should plead our case before the Lord, for…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 29)

    A La Carte: Does God withdraw his presence? / Celebrating the Lord’s Supper / Difficult, emotionally-overwhelming seasons / Wisdom for difficult conversations / Why four gospels? / Sales and deals / and more.

  • New and Notable

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2025

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new books in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: Christians and IVF / And all the people said [mumble] / How your entertainment shapes you / How to preach in 20 challenging steps / Church conflict / Kindle and Logos deals / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: When the paychecks stop / What does Jesus want me to do? / A messy house / Beast Games / The rise of Nietzschean Christianity / Stop and marvel / and more.