No Such Thing
If you’re a perfectionist and you’ve ever set out to start a project, you can imagine how. many. hours. it took me to create this blog. If you aren’t a perfectionist, God bless you and your free-spirited life.
However, this blog has been a dream of mine for much longer than several hours. For years, I formed blog posts in my head or drafted them in my journal. Being a perfectionist, I would start, get completely overwhelmed that I couldn’t find the perfect theme/design/colors/words, maybe start crying, tell my husband that I never really wanted to start a blog anyway and then…I’d quit.
But this is a season of new beginnings for me as my husband and I recently relocated from Southern California to Houston (I know, I can feel your confused look through the computer screen – more to come on that later). So, I latched onto this theme of new adventures and made a decision: there is no such thing as perfect. So forgive the minimalist style and the amateur design. I decided that those things can come later. For now, the focus will be the words.
WHY A BLOG?
In some ways, I feel way behind the times. I mean, haven’t people moved onto vlogging or getting free vacations and clothes to post pictures on Instagram?
But there is a reason I chose a blog. I simply love words. Written words to be exact. I love that God knew that we would need His words to us written down in the Bible. I love that we can revisit it hundreds – thousands – of times and it can speak to us in a new way each time: correcting our thoughts, comforting us with His grace, reminding us of His goodness, reassuring us that we’re not alone.
Now, I’m definitely not claiming that this blog comes anywhere close to the Bible, but my hope for it is similar. My hope is that these words would encourage even just one person. That the person who is alone in bed scrolling through Facebook or Instagram or Google in search of just one word of hope would find this (because I’ve been there). That the person who needs to know that they’re not alone in their experiences of loss, betrayal, confusion, sadness would find this (because you’re not). That the person who just needs to have words for those messy, confusing, jumbled-up feelings would find this (because we all need help sometimes).
Even as an avid journaler (is that a word?) who documents all of life’s experiences and emotions and prayers, there are moments when I am so full of feeling that I can’t find words to articulate it. So sometimes, when my sweet husband is trying to understand why I’m crying or a dear friend looks me straight in the eyes and asks me one of those for-real-how-are-you-doing questions, I simply don’t know what to say. Sometimes, I need someone else to help me form the words. Whether you’re just reading this because you’re being a supportive friend of mine or you found this through a random search or someone decided it was worth forwarding onto you, my prayer is that you would find these words (or someone else’s) at just the right moment when you need it – when you need someone to articulate your feelings, to relate to your experiences.
WHY PONDER WITH PRU?
As we were packing for our recent move, I opened a drawer that held journals that I had kept over the years. I’m not talking just one or two though, I’m talking stacks and stacks and stacks of them – which of course triggered one of those looks from my husband when I told him that I refused to part with any of them. These were my ponderings: my deepest life questions and cares and experiences and sufferings. I failed to mention that among the pile were also my middle school diaries that were littered with favorite crushes and all. the. junior. high. drama. But even those experiences shape us, am I right?
Well, I promise I won’t be using this blog as a modern-day diary. What it will be is a place to continue to ponder. If you can relate to the ponderings, that’s amazing. If not, I hope you’ll still enjoy it!
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE?
This blog has four main purposes:
To encourage you with a “me too” moment.
“There is nothing new under the sun.” Amen, Solomon. Those feelings that you’re experiencing, you’re not the first one to experience them. And that means you’re not alone in them! I hope that some of my experiences will overlap with yours, that you’ll be able to say, “Thank goodness she felt that too!”
To put words to what you may be experiencing.
My mother always told me that I needed to learn to articulate my feelings. Well, 30 (still getting used to that number) years later, I’m still learning how to do that. That’s part of why I love to write. It helps me sort out my feelings. But when I don’t have the words, sometimes it helps to find others who have successfully articulated my unformed thoughts. Because sometimes, you need the words.
To inspire a bold vulnerability in your own communities.
Yes, I want you to dive deep here and feel encouraged. But I want this to just be the start of the conversation, the place that gives you the courage to go back into your face-to-face community and discuss these things. I think the greatest way the enemy wins is to keep us pretending, keep us silent.
To laugh together at all of life’s awkwardness and adventures.
The Lord knows that if I don’t laugh every day, I will most likely cry. Life is overwhelming, but guess what? God is in control and as I’ve learned over the years, He is still good. No matter what. So, what does that leave us with? The ability to laugh and enjoy the journey! So we’ll have a good time here and even ponder some of life’s less intense subjects, like where to travel to next, how to find the best coffee shops (like this one), and which books and TV shows are grabbing my attention lately.
So, welcome, my friends! Enjoy, give feedback, and come ponder with me!