Getting Started

I intend that this website will turn out to be a web log in it's most obvious sense. I do not harbor any notion that many people in the world (particularly those I've never met) actually care about my daily activities, and most of those that do probably should be spending more time on their own. I have, however, come to the conclusion that maintaining a web log can be profitable to me for a number of reasons.

First of all, it provides some measure of accountability in my own devotional life. I intend to share regularly what I have learned in hearing the Word of God preached and in reading it for myself. In order to share truth with anyone, I must first understand it. Therefore I believe that taking time to digest truth enough to then present it in a logical format will be a help to me in my own spiritual growth.
Along those lines, I believe it is profitable to think through things enough to be able to write about them. Some of the things I intend to share will come from my own reading, and currently I am working through the memoirs of Jonathan Edwards. Something helpful about Edwards's practice that I would like to incorporate into my own life is his control over his thoughts. When he left his house to walk by himself in the field, he would determine ahead of time, even writing it down, what he would think about. I began to think of the hours I have wasted in useless thought that could have been spent in meditation on Scripture or better articulating to myself the truths of the gospel and God's work in me. Writing is a tangible way of controlling and organizing thoughts.

I enjoy writing, I enjoy communication, and I must improve at both throughout my life.

That being said, I do intend that the subject matter of this blog be practical as it represents what I do at this stage of my life. Our family blog is a great way for my parents and other relations who live away from us to keep up with how our son is growing up. This blog will be a great way for my mom to keep up with what's on sale at Walgreens. I'll talk about how I use coupons, save money, and enjoy myself way too much in the process. I would see all these other money-saving coupon bloggers posting pictures of their drugstore trips, and I would go, "Wow. They really need to get a life." Then I went to a drugstore and bought like $35.17 worth of merchandise, and typed it into my computer which told me to expect like $37.24 back in the mail, and I went, "Hmm. I wish I could tell my husband just how great a deal we just got. But I just did. He's already sat through the detailed list and been impressed. Who else cares? Let's see. . ." And then I realized why people put pictures on the internet. It's like mounting a moose rack. Only your virtual trophy room has seemingly unlimited space, and your local drugstores keep cranking out the ads, and the season lasts all year.

So about spoons and shovels. Appreciating what my husband brings in materially is an obvious applicaiton. But not throwing out, or treating as worthless, anything God gives me is commendable in His sight. Sunday sermons, devotional reading, mental powers, and financial resources should be conserved and highly valued as provisions from the Father of Lights.