I have never blogged before. I have been told often– normally while I am ranting about my latest soap-box issue or encounter with difficult technology– that I should have a blog. I however have always been weary of this. My words free for all to read, criticize, and interpret. My thoughts let loose into the great abyss of the internet. All of it seemed too permanent, too vast for my liking. My arrogance and pride no doubt play a key role in not wanting to be so surrendered. My insecurity and self-doubt complete the equation and leave me running from sharing my words in almost any media. But I have been called to this Race, fully aware of what is being asked of me– well as far as blogging goes! I want to surrender completely. I want to be obedient. And yet I find myself posting and unposting, writing and deleting, analyzing, scrutinizing… I find myself trying to write out of my own ability, with my own appearance in mind, wanting to say things I believe will change the lives of others. Lord, help me with this. Let this be my first step towards becoming fully and wholly used by You. This next year will be a journey full of surrender and brokenness, let me not stumble before the race has begun.
This blog is to be part of a larger ministry. I leave in July to begin an eleven month journey around the world. While out I will being serving God through loving His children, building up His kingdom, and being His hands and feet to a lost and weary world. All of that seems cliché… the run of the mill answer to what a mission trip is. But I long for it to be more than words, more than clichés– I want it to be my reality, my identity, my life. A theme was suggested to help connect all of my experiences and keep an overarching concept throughout all of my blogs. After prayer and thought I have settled on Life & Death; realizing that as a Christian and a human those two things are present everywhere. Each one is tied to the other, interconnected in an unbroken chain of events. We long to die to self that He may live. His death brought us life. And in dying to sin, we may know the lifeblood of freedom. So I will write under that theme, hoping to use everyday moments and life altering experiences to simply show that God is good. God is real. God is love.
