Why “Jesus Is My Hashtag?”

I was frequently reminded by my daughter (12 years-old at that time) that I don’t know how to use some of the social media that’s out there. Of course, this is coming from a young girl who doesn’t have much social media experience herself.

This past year, while serving in our middle school ministry at church, I was reminded just how connected to technology middle schoolers were. Asking them to put away their phones for an hour and a half was like asking them to hold their breath for those 90 minutes. Each week, there were the hidden glances at phones when they thought my co-leader and I weren’t looking, comments like just a second while I snap a picture, and groans about shutting off their access to the outside world.

Week in and week out, I began to wish they hungered for Jesus that much. I longed for the center of their worlds to be Jesus instead of their smartphones. I wanted a relationship with Jesus to be what they turned to over and over in the day instead of social media. Late one evening after church, the phrase “Jesus Is My Hashtag” was ringing in my ears.

For the next month and a half, I kept feeling drawn to that phrase. Without a doubt, I was being nudged by God that my writing needed to focus on helping youth grow their faith in Jesus. The more I thought and prayed, the more I realized God was creating a path for me to combine my love of writing and my passion for serving young people. And, it was here that the blog, Jesus Is My Hashtag, was born.