The purpose of this whole thing...

I love writing.  It's become my new passion from the comfort of my own home in the rare quiet moments of my life.  It gives me an outlet to explain what I think, how I feel, or just vent.  It also gives me a sense of fulfillment when I am told how a certain post encouraged or challenged a reader.  I used to be a public speaker and though I enjoyed that immensely, writing is so more freeing - and you can do it in your pajamas!
Some of you who read this regularly know me personally, others - most of you, do not.  The most fundamental characteristic of my life is my relationship with the Lord.  My choices on how I raise my children, to how I operate within my marriage to, gasp, even my political affinity is based on my relationship with Jesus.  I cannot and don't understand how I can separate my love for Jesus and my life I live - for in my opinion, the life I live is because of my love for Jesus.
And therein enters my writing.  One of the biggest things that frustrate me within the Christian community is the hyper-spirituality of people who tend to throw practical Christianity right out the window while trying to appear as though they have obtained some lofty spiritual platform.  It drives me nuts!  It kills me when Christians act superior to people who do not believe, like those who are not believers are mentally deficient somehow.  And it irritates me when Christians say that they want to reach out to people who don't believe - and they do so by offering them Bible verses, instead of loving them to the Lord and to an appreciation of what the Bible says.  I wanted my blog to be a reflection of me, and how I view the Lord and my relationship with Him.  I wanted people to read my writing who don't have a relationship with Jesus and prompt them to think about Jesus in a new light - instead of the way they have always viewed religion.  I wanted Christians to read my posts and be challenged in how they carry out their Christianity in their daily lives - with their children, spouses, and with whoever they happen to meet in public.
And so I have prayed about the direction of my blog - what I would want to accomplish through it and how I want it to be used in the grand scheme of things.  Quite honestly, I have my visions of grandiose success for my blog and writing, but I know we are living in reality.  I don't want it to be a Bible study.  I don't want it to be a feel good fluffy blog where there really is no meat to chew on.  I want it to be a place where people go to be challenged and provoked to think about things differently.  If you want a Bible study, there are some wonderful blogs out there that would meet that need.  If you want a feel good blog full of fluff, there are plenty of those out there for that as well.  But if you want to read something that will challenge you with practical Christianity and be real about the struggles and joys of motherhood, marriage and being a woman - than this is the blog I hope that will meet that need.
Everyday, with a husband and four kids, there is a lot of material that comes to light.  In the last couple of weeks my four year old twins noticed that not all people have the same color of skin that we do, my son told me that he hated me, my little 2 year old Lily started getting attention apart from Luke and Emma, Emma is learning not to challenge authority but to respect it and Will is growing rapidly before my eyes.  My husband and I are praying about what God would want from us as a family in service to Him and what that will look like and just for more fun with it all, I'm still trying to lose the baby weight.  I know that life is full for me, and I am quite aware that life is very full for those who read my blog.  I want to write posts that I feel will encourage and challenge you - and make you laugh a bit.  I want to write about things that will make you feel like you did something valuable with your time by reading them, instead of feeling like you could have spent that ten minutes doing something more productive - so I will do my best to write things that pertain to your life and the things that matter to you.
I had a conversation with my husband recently regarding Biblical Christianity.  In the Bible, I don't recall anyone coming into real relationship with Jesus and then continuing their normal lives.  Once they learned who He really was, they were radically transformed and given a sense of urgency to do something about it.  Some of the disciples were fishermen.  When they came to the reality of who Jesus really was they didn't say, "Wonderful, you are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  You are the key to eternal life.  Now excuse me, I need to go catch some salmon."  They dropped their nets, they left everything they held onto and followed Jesus.
I'm not sure that we do that anymore.  I speak for myself, but I think I'm much more like the rich young ruler, except not that rich and definitely not a ruler.  But I love God and I want to serve Him, but I don't want to release the control of the things that give my life comfort and security.  I want to be really make an impact for Christ, as long as I know that there is a paycheck coming every other Friday.  I like control, I like ten year plans, and I'm not much for surprises.  I like things to make sense to me, and happen according to plan - and yet, I know after much experience that nothing rarely happens neatly and according to plan. 
So, I'm not going to wait to make the blog the coolest thing anyone has ever seen.  I'm not going to wait till I have an awesome logo and some really cool pitch.  I feel like God is prompting me to just stop making it about me and what I want and let Him be in control and take it where it may go. 
So here it is, if you read this blog regularly and you are on Facebook, click on "like."  If you are challenged or encouraged, frustrated or even upset with what I write - put it on the wall.  If you have questions, post them.  I don't know where God will take this - maybe nowhere and it will just be my own personal corner to process my thoughts on life.  But if God chooses to use my writing to advance Himself than that is all I can ask for.
Here's to what God holds in His hands and sees with His eyes, and to the faith to believe even when we can't see.