Springing Forth

I almost can’t believe I’m doing this, but here I am; writing my very first blog post! Sitting down and actually beginning to type feels a lot like the moment I first open the cover of a pretty, new journal. My thoughts are full of ideas and memories and anecdotes that I want to write down but where exactly to begin usually gives me pause. To remove some of this “pressure” of starting off with fluid thoughts and perfectly printed writing, for as long as I can remember I have always flipped to the second page and began my journaling there. To this day, if you were to open a journal of mine, you would find that first page still crisp and white. I should probably be embarrassed to admit this, but I would venture to guess that maybe, just maybe, there’s at least one other recovering perfectionist out there that does the same thing? 

Well, since you can’t exactly “flip to the second page” on a blog, I suppose this could be the reason it has taken me ten years to officially start my blog. Yes, ten years! I have wanted to start a blog ever since I had my first baby. After she was born, I actually starting the process of creating a blog named, “My Cup of Tea”. I think only my husband and mother knew about this endeavor. I spent so much time trying to design the site from scratch, learn coding, find pretty clip art and free stock images (before my days of a smartphone camera and editing apps), and all the other ins and outs of blogging that I never even wrote an official post. Life just got busier and busier as more babies came and I lost the energy and time to get it up and running. I regret not making the effort to document those early days of motherhood and of growing our family. The desire to blog and create a written “keepsake” to look back on has persisted during various seasons of life for our family. Over the past year, especially, with an unexpected international move and all the changes, experiences and challenges it has brought, the little nagging in my heart has been stronger than ever. I feel the nudge that now is the time for this new beginning. I want to take the sticky note scribbles and disorganized phone notes and, yes, even those starting-on-the-second-page journal entries and save it all in a more thoughtful, purposeful way. As I document this time in our lives and highlight some of our adventures, I would love for you to come along with us! It would be fun to share about life above the arctic circle and where we have explored this past year!

Now, I must be honest and say that, while these travel posts will be fun to write (and hopefully enjoyable to read!), I really don’t want this blog to be just about the grand and the exciting. I also want to share about the simple days of life and motherhood; the joys and the struggles and the growth that can be found in them. It is my prayer, even from this very first post, that this little blog will be a blessing somehow and that it will shed light on the beauty that can be found in the every day. I am learning that these often overlooked moments, all too quickly, turn our days into months, then into years, and are ultimately what make up our lives. Here is where we grow and bloom and become who we were created to be. Moments and days that can feel like a wilderness to the weary are where God is working under the surface; preparing an oasis and making a way. So, as I share a glimpse of our journey and pieces of my heart, I hope you will leave this space feeling a bit of excitement, but also encouraged and refreshed.

Until next time, hope in His mercy, trust in His goodness and rest in His perfect love.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19