By Katie Kreis ’19

For years, Madison Bloker ’19 has kept a daily journal chronicling her personal story. Now she is using her passions and talents to help others share theirs.

In 2017 Bloker, a journalism and communication major, started collecting her own musings on faith, love, beauty, confidence, perseverance, positivity, and radiance—including some from her personal diaries. This year, she published those stories and more in her first devotional, Bound Blessings.

“These are topics I am very passionate about and ones I think a lot of people struggle with, including myself,” Bloker said. “I hope that people gain a stronger sense of who they are and what faith can do for them.”

In addition to the devotional, Bloker also launched a new website by the same name where she shares excerpts from the book and new faith-centered stories from her life as well as those of the people she meets. 

Buy the book

Bound Blessings can be purchased through Madison Bloker’s website. 

“The blog has inspired people all over the world,” Bloker said. “I hope to be genuine, real, and true through the blog so that other people can relate to the struggles and situations and apply the lessons to their own lives.”

Though her Bound Blessings brand is still in its early stages, Bloker is already using it to give back. She donated half of the proceeds from book sales to Wartburg’s Dance Marathon, which will directly benefit patients at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

She also has made plans to expand into video storytelling and motivational speaking, an idea she pitched during the college’s Wicked Problems Challenge finals on RICE Day (see page 4).

“I want to reach as many people as I can. If it has impacted this many lives in its short time of existence, I have high hopes that it will continue to do so in the future and grow all the more,” Bloker said.

Yet Bloker’s journey as a servant-leader started long before she set foot on Wartburg’s campus. In elementary school, she founded Best Little Thinkers, a group of like-minded students seeking to raise money for a swimming pool in her hometown of Clarksville.

This year her continued commitment to service was recognized by Campus Compact, a nonprofit coalition of college and university presidents committed to advancing the public purposes of higher education, when she was named as one of the 2018 Newman Civic Fellows.

In addition to building her business, Bloker also serves as student director for Service Trips, marketing coordinator for the Volunteer Action Center, a college Ambassador, and the sponsorship director for Dance Marathon.

“Throughout my time at Wartburg, I’ve grown so much. I have learned about my passions, goals, strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities,” Bloker said. “I’ve expanded my horizons. I flew on an airplane for the first time, visited the ocean, saw a Broadway show in New York, visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado, and served on trips to Georgia and North Carolina.

“Looking back, Wartburg has impacted my life in so many ways. I’ve grown as a civic leader, as a student, and as a person. I’ve been able to fully live out my passions and navigate my way through my vocational calling.”

Bloker’s book even came about because of the college. As a member of the Baldwin Leadership Fellows Program, a selective program with the goal of expanding the conversation about leadership and civic engagement on Wartburg’s campus, Bloker and her classmates each had to find a project that connected their talents and passions.

“It’s amazing to see how this book has changed and developed. I look forward to using the other ideas that came about throughout the process and move forward with other books and opportunities in the future.”