Stories of Our Boys Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023

If you follow both of my websites, you know that I did a top ten list for Gettingmyacttogether.com last week. I would never just shun my original website by not giving it a “Top 10 Most Popular” post too.

Over the past couple of years, I have tried to take storiesofourboys.com into a more focused direction.

Y’all know I started out blogging about parenting four boys, and my oldest son was absolutely not having it. He was right. You can only put so much on the internet about your real life. I tend to be an open book, so I had to be reminded of this.

Since then I have moved on to other topics.

Believe it or not, my Bible archaeology articles bring the lion’s share of people to my blog. That helped me decide to dedicate more of this website to articles relating to faith, Bible Archaeology, and travel. I cannot ignore my parenting/home school roots here though. The home school articles still do well.

The funny thing is we are not currently a home-schooling family. However, we have gone in and out of that lifestyle repeatedly, thanks to all the moves and COVID. Therefore, the home schooling niche still has a place on this website too.

The only way I know to categorize all those things in one place is to call this a faith-based website.

I write about all things related to Christian parenting and Christian beliefs.

The travel ties in because Christian families should go on vacation too. ha!! I don’t know. I just love travel, so it stays. To be fair. some of my travel does involve areas related to our faith, like Israel and Rome.

However, I always feel like I need a disclaimer. When you see me sitting on my rear end, eating Nacho Cheese Doritos, drinking Coca-Cola, and watching Designing Women in the middle of the day, you may feel disillusioned. The fact is that’s sometimes exactly where you find me. I am no picture of Baptist mom perfection, so please don’t expect that here.

I’m just another sinner saved by grace. I just happened to enjoy reading up on Bible archaeology discoveries and sharing neat Christian parenting resources that I may come across.

So without further ado, here are the Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023 on Stories of Our Boys.

By the way, the articles on this website still get far more page views than the ones on my new website, Getting My Act Together. This website doesn’t have any viral breakaway articles like my other blog does. However, its articles consistently do well and keep their traffic over time.

That’s why some of these articles make the top ten list here every year. Thankfully, I do have a couple of new ones on the list for 2024!

#1. 14 Tips for Your First Year of Classical Conversations

I wrote it in 2015, when our family was actively involved in a Classical Conversations community. While the curriculum has seen many changes since that time, the tips in this article are still extremely relevant.

If you are thinking about trying Classical Conversations, definitely give it a read. I know you will find it helpful.

#2. How the Sumerian King List Relates the Bible

See, there are plenty more archaeology nerds out there, besides just me, who want to know about ancient history and how it relates to the Bible! I love this stuff.

The Sumerian King List is from ancient Mesopotamia, The fascinating thing about it is that it references their kings as the ones before the “Great Flood” and after it. Oh, and by the way, just as in the Bible, the kings from before the flood lived insanely long lives. Intrigued? Check out the article.

#3. What it was Like to Wear a Linq Heart Monitor for 3 Years

As you can see, we cover many different topics on this blog! I have a rare heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia. That is how I ended up wearing a Linq monitor inside my chest for three years. Thankfully, I am okay. My v-tach episodes are short and infrequent, and that is the key to my still being alive, without needing a zapper or a pacemaker.

#4. 20 Boy Mom Quotes that Will Make You Smile

I am excited to see this one do well. For one thing, I enjoyed writing it and creating all those Canvas. Secondly, it was actually written in 2023 and is one of my two articles from this year that made this list.

Plus, I wrote this article using my new “keyword research method” I learned from the blogging classes I took. That feels wonderful to see the classes I paid money for actually paying off for me.

I used to always write about whatever random ideas were in my head. Now I am using keyword research to become a better blogger and answer questions people are actually asking Google.

And yeah, boy mom quotes is a fun topic that is right up my alley.

#5. 10 Exciting Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible

Like I said, Bible Archaeology posts have turned out to be my specialty. In this one you will learn about Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Tel Dan Inscription, ancient New Testament manuscripts, Peter’s house, and so much more.

It is so fun to dig in to all of these discoveries and see the Bible coming more to life.

This is the other post on the list that I wrote in 2023. I discovered this topic using my new blogging skill of keyword research too. This article marks so much progress for me as I try to turn this from a hobby to a job. It’s a big deal!

#6. 10 Facts You Never Knew About the Early Church

This post was inspired by the book, Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett., where I learned so much mind-blowing reality about the early days of the church that I just had to share! I think the time after Jesus, but before Catholicism was truly established as a powerful world influence is fascinating.

The way the church grew is incredible. Check out this post to learn little known facts about early followers of Jesus.

#7. Ow! What Just Stung us in the Gulf of Mexico?

I wrote this one around 2018, after our kids were stung, yet again, in the Gulf of Mexico. You know, most people have never been stung by a jellyfish. I have only been stung hard once, and that was when I was around fourteen.

But we have had numerous encounters with getting stung at the beach. Rarely do we lay eyes on what actually stung us, so I did some reading around on the internet to learn more.

#8. What the Nuzi Tablets from 1450-1350 BC Tell Us About the Bible

When I hear about an artifact from ancient times, I like to do a deep dive to see how they might tie in to the Bible. This is one of my hobbies. I have several excellent archaeology books I keep on hand for my ancient times rabbit holes that I get into. So you can rest assured when you read articles like this one on my website, they are well researched and do not come from Wikipedia.

I break this stuff down into only the most interesting tidbits. You might find it surprisingly educational and yet easy to read!

#9. Jerusalem in Pictures: Golgotha & the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

My Israel posts are my personal favorite of anything that I have ever written. To me, it was the absolute most exciting place I have ever travelled to. I still cannot believe I even got to go!

This post has tons of full color photos of the very place where Jesus was crucified and buried. The location of Golgotha is not a random guess either. This is backed up by the Bible and archaeological evidence as well as local history. I feel like most people would love to see it and will never get to, so I tried to share everything about it that I could in this series.

Then I took all of my posts on Israel and weaved them together in an e-book. You can find the book on Amazon.

#10. Which is Better: Home School, Public, or Private School?

I began writing this list of pros and cons in 2014. This particular list was revised and re-written in 2021. As a military family, we move every few years. That has created the abrupt decision process of choosing our kids’ schools over and over again.

At this point, I have the unique perspective of having sent four boys to all three of these options: home school, private, and public schools. My honest favorite is private school. The problem is that is not always affordable.

There is a balance to life, and we each have different circumstances, as do our kids. That’s why we all have to choose what is best for ourselves. In this list, I provide the pros and cons that we encountered that affected us the most.

2023 was a fun year for me to bring Storiesofourboys.com back to life.

I largely hung up my hat on this website from 2018-2022. Now I am excited and happy to call myself a blogger again and pursue it in earnest. This year I took this website from costing me $500/year to actually making about $500. Plus, I made additional income on my new blog, Getting My Act Together.

Looking to the Future

In 2023, I also became a contributing writer to Newsbreak.com and several publications on Medium.com. For 2024, I plan to continue to contribute to all four websites (my two blogs, plus Medium and Newsbreak).

Do I want to go get a “real job”? Heck no! I want to continue to work for myself. I am putting in the hard work now, making almost no money, with the hopes of making more as I grow. So far I consistently grow each month, and that is the whole goal.

In 2024, on storiesofourboys.com, I will be bringing you articles on sending kids to college, more Bible archaeology finds, and keeping the faith through all that life throws at us. I also still have one last Italy post to share, on that eight hour train ride we took from Naples to Sicily!

Can anyone go to Sicily without constantly quoting the Golden Girls? I sure couldn’t it.

Thanks so much for all your support!

You will see a lot more articles here this year, so I hope to see you more often! Your support, just by reading my stuff, means the world to me.

Happy New Year, y’all! I hope your year is off to a happy start!