As an introduction is in order…

In the interest of not giving out personally identifying information (and so as not to be constantly putting you to sleep), I do not intend to divulge all the details of my life on this blog.  But since I enjoy getting to “know” people through the blogs I frequent, I suppose I ought to tell a little about myself as well.  Let me start out by saying my life, truly, has been redeemed by, and belongs to, Jesus Christ the Lord; and it is, by God’s grace, a search to come to know and please Him.

I am a young lady, in my early twenties, unmarried and living at home with my parents and two brothers who are making their way through the teen years.  I was homeschooled all the way though, and am so grateful that I had that opportunity.  It has been my plan since graduation to pursue a certification in the practice of midwifery, but the good Lord, unsurprisingly, has had His own plans for my adult life so far.  In the particular season we are going through as a family, I am needed here and have felt particularly, clearly, and strongly called to be available here.  I have always felt that I wanted to use midwifery in some kind of ministry, but for now, my field of ministry is home.  So a lot of the time I am doing things like cooking, housework, chauffering, helping with schoolwork, etc.

I also do a bit of part-time work a few days a week at an antique mall in this quaint little town.  It has been, surprisingly, a wonderful opportunity to meet people from very diverse locations and backgrounds.  On New Years day I had a family from Iran come in, and later, a family from Israel.  That was an interesting day!

I suppose in a way, I have your standard mix of interests: reading, writing, music, art, crochet, languages and cultures.  As for experiences, maybe I’ll be able to share some of that at a later date.

And that is enough about me!

What I am Reading

The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ,  by Lee Strobel

I’ve never read any of Lee Strobel’s books, although I’ve heard many good things about his work.  When a friend recommended this one and offered to lend me his copy, I eagerly accepted, and have been rewarded with a lot of food for thought.  I appreciate the way Strobel tackles the tough questions, and fearlessly goes in search of answers, bringing forth the opinions of historical and textual experts who really know their stuff.  I’m only about halfway through, but even so far it has been a fascinating read.

Add to the Beauty

We come with beautiful secrets
We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls
We come to every new morning
With possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations
It brings redemption to life and work
To our lives and our work

It comes in loving community
It comes in helping a soul find its worth

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful
This is grace, an invitation

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out our best

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside

—Sara Groves

Deep Breath

I used to consider myself a writer. And then somewhere along the winding way, particularly through several frantic, intense, at times exceedingly painful and frightening years, I found myself with nothing to say. Every so often, I would sit at the computer and, just because I had to write something, write about how I was yearning to communicate– something– but couldn’t dredge up anything out of the swirling mist inside my head. I had the feeling that all I thought I knew, I was finding out I really didn’t know; to express an opinion would be to show my own ignorance. In the words of those days, “If I were to pour forth onto paper, canvas, or instrument, an expression of that within my own heart which seeks to be expressed, I do believe it would be a deluge of questions, of wonderings, yearnings, longing.  It is as if I know not what to say, yet yearn with my whole soul to say it.”  Somewhere along the way I decided, well, so I will not write; I will listen. I have been reading and watching and trying to fill myself so that perhaps someday I will have something to draw forth. For the most part, I gave up trying to journal. I stopped myself almost every time I got to the “submit” button when commenting on a blog post, and let my insignificant thoughts disappear into the “trashbin” of cyberspace. My intelligent friends would surely scoff at such childish attempts.

But it is time. Time to take a deep breath and say something, and let someone else hear it. It is time to step out of the secure cell of fear and self-consciousness into the light and learn to relate as an imperfect person, as a person becoming, and offer what I do have to give.

As I wrote recently,“I am feeling like a small child working hard at his first steps, ignorantly searching. God grant me grace to enter fully into my own first toddling steps, full of joy and without fear.”