Sunday, September 16, 2007

Blog Review: Live.Awake


The Blog: Live.Awake

The Reviewer: Sarah from In The Trenches of Mommyhood





The blog I’m reviewing this week is called “Live. Awake” written by married couple Ben and Heather Cotton.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
I could immediately sense this was a Christian-living/family blog. My assumption was confirmed as soon as I clicked on the “About” button. Ben, a Pastor, and Heather, his wife are keeping this blog as a reminder for them, and all of us, to LIVE, not just sail through LIFE.

DESIGN:
The design of this blog is pretty plain. That is, no bells and whistles or frills. Simple, basic, to-the-point. Very easy on the eyes, but certainly not containing any sort of “WOW” factor.

CONTENT:
Heather seems like a down-to-earth mother. Some of her tips and ideas are useful (see Job Jar entry) and it’s interesting to read about her childhood growing up in a family with six (!) children.

Ben’s written sermons and Bible teachings were a little dry. They’re not something I would choose to read. That being said though, all his entries are clear, concise and well-written.

BEST AND WORST:
Best—The Cottens are a typical American family raising 3 children in
North Carolina. They are truthful, honest and real. And not too preachy, for a Christian-centered blog. I got quite a kick out of Ben’s post titled Reconnecting With Family. He’s so down-to-earth.

Worst—There’s too much mouse-clicking to do to read the posts! A reader can’t get a feel for what a post is about until they actually click on it, which takes them to the entire post, including comments. I’m a skimmer. Give me a little bit on the main page, and let me decide whether I’m going to click for more…

BLOGROLL-WORTHY:
I have a feeling that the Cottens have a following from their families and Ben’s congregation. Again, this blog didn’t have that “wow” factor for me to include them on my blogroll.

SCORE:

SUMMARY:
A Christian family’s blog about “living life with eyes wide open.”

2 comments:

Maude Lynn said...

Nice, fair review. Good job!

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