Entering The Blogfold

I have decided to join the ranks of worldwide bloggers.

It seems logical – after all, my first career goal, starting in second grade, was to become a “famous author.” I envisioned myself writing children’s books, and held to that aspiration until my teenage years, when hanging out at the mall with friends became more appealing than composing stories and poems. Throughout childhood and even high school, I have journaled off and on, recording my thoughts and the little details of life that are otherwise forgotten. Since becoming a wife and mother, though, my writing has been mostly limited to emails and grocery lists. I know that this is a precious time in my life and in that of my children, so maybe blogging is just the tool I need to capture these moments. And since the digital camera is one of my favorite inventions, I am excited at the opportunity to illustrate my journaling with photography. They say a picture is worth 1000 words, but knowing my tendency toward wordiness in writing, I imagine that here you will find both.

In a way, I’m late to jump on the bandwagon, as it seems like everyone with a computer and an opinion has a blog right now. But besides my resistance to anything trendy, I think the idea of blogging has turned me off because, as one who poured over books like The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Published as a child, I saw writing as a career. Blogging, on the other hand, means giving out my ideas for free. However, in the past three years as a stay at home mom, I have grown accustomed to working without pay. My sweet husband works hard to provide for our family so that I can be “busy at home.” I am so thankful to him and to God for the blessing of being able to care for my children and my home full-time. I take my homemaking job seriously, so I have to accept blogging for what it is: not a means of acquiring wealth, but a new hobby and an outlet for the creative expression that has been lying dormant within me.

The other contributor to my reluctance has been my somewhat obsessive need for order. I felt my blog needed a theme and an audience. Would it be a collection of photos and anecdotes to show relatives what the children are doing? Or would I expound on a Bible verse each day, journaling how it relates to my life? Would I share personal thoughts, or change my children’s names to protect their privacy in the vast world of cyber space? Since I can’t seem to narrow it down to a single theme, I have decided to plunge ahead with what everyone else (seemingly) is doing: an online journal about anything and everything I want to write about, for anyone - or no one - to read.

This blog will be about me – maybe more about me than you ever wanted to know. It will be about my husband, Don, and our two boys, Donny and Hayden. It will be about our quiet days at home and the adventures that lie ahead. And it will be about God, because without Him, nothing else has meaning. The Lord is my Shepherd, and it is only by His grace that I live, move, exist...and write.

For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'
Acts 17:28 NASB