In the beginning...

So I've never blogged before, and regular journal entries have proven a challenge for me, but I've been inspired by some of my friends and a recent revelation that maybe any blogging followers I gain during the course of this process can become accountability partners as I grow in my walk with Christ.  I'm a bit intimidated by the commitment that I believe this process will take and possibly the revelation that I really need to work hard to maintain the responsibility of regularly sharing my thoughts with others.  This will certainly be a bit of an experiment, but even God had to start somewhere.

One of the things that scares me the most about this process is revealing personal aspects of my own life.  Truths about myself that reveal why or how I have come to a certain revelation about a matter of my faith and my journey to grow closer to God.  At a certain point I guess I will find it necessary if it pertains to what I am studying at the moment, but like a friendship in life I can only hope that it will just naturally happen over time.  It is certainly intimidating to dial down the moments in life that have shaped me the most, but God has definitely been at work in my life and I believe that everything happens for a reason and maybe God can continue to use the experiences I have gone through to work in others lives.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Seasons of my life have come and gone.  Some are short and some are long, but all of them are seasons where I have been blessed by the grace of God, even when I didn't know Him or I was choosing to ignore Him.  It is interesting as I move through Ecclesiates 3 and reflect on the seasons of my past, present and future.  I was born into a house of faith, but was reborn when I claimed God as my savior.  My life has physically and powerfully been uprooted as I moved from my hometown, to college, to life after college, after marriage, it will likely be uprooted again when my husband graduates from college in a few months, and however many more countless times God sees fit to move me again in the future.  During some of these seasons of my life, I have been so firmly planted that not even a Wyoming wind could rip me from the ground and in others, the breeze from a whisper would have been enough.  Pieces of my heart and dreams for my future have died, but then I was healed.  I seamlessly move between weeping and laughter, and I have gratefully danced more than I have mourned.  Embracing others comes naturally, but I tend to refrain from embracing opportunities and challenges.  I am constantly searching and keeping, but rarely give up or throw away.  My life has been torn, but God is a wonderful seamstresses.  Until recently I was silent in my faith, but now that I know the depth of God's work I can't remain silent anymore and I faithfully choose to speak.  I've learned it is easy to hate, but hard to love and that forgiveness is essential to loving those I've hated.  I have been at war with my faith, but find peace so much more beautiful.   

Thank you God for all the seasons of my life that you have bestowed upon me and will continue to bestow upon me.  I am me and I am faithfully yours.