Dear friends,

If you’ve talked to me at all in the last year or so, I’ve probably told you that I’m planning to do some writing.  You then may have asked, “What are you going to write about?”

And I probably responded with confusion.  “Oh, maybe try to publish my curriculum on the Jacob narratives and learning to tell our own stories in light of the many stories in Scripture, or maybe some guest post blogging for some of the big Christian blogs, or maybe I’ll do my own blog.  I don’t really know.”

I’ve vacillated between writing about theology and writing about my own story, between writing curricula that I hoped to publish and writing creatively, between blogging beauty – complete with pictures and music videos – and attempting to publish layman-friendly commentary.  All of these interests have effectively paralyzed me from writing anything.

A couple of weeks ago, I was kissing Nagib good-bye as I headed out the door to work.  I told him that I was going to just start writing, and that I probably needed to write something every day.  He responded with enthusiasm (maybe he’s tired of my all-talk-no-action?), saying, “Don’t think about what blog it will be on or who you’re writing for.  Just write.”

His encouragement pushed me over the hump.  I pulled out my laptop and started to write.

​But then I realized a little problem.  I don’t know how to write to a nameless, faceless audience.  And no matter what other entities may honor me by publishing something that I have to say, I still need a home base from which to operate.

So I’m back to my blog.  I honestly don’t know much about the digital world.  But my digitally-savvy youngest sister told me that I need to have a focus, a tagline that sums up what this blog is about, for goodness sake.  Well, this blog is about life.  It’s about God and beauty and relationships and books and music and suffering.  It’s about feeding my soul through nature and through theology.  It’s about the places I find hope in a very broken world, and it’s about the people (both real and fictional) who remind me to love.

I hope you enjoy it.