Away we go!

Several years ago, my girls and I studies the Little House on the Prairie series in our homeschool. It changed my life. Reading about the day-to-day actions and trials of another person in another time period gave me perspectives that I hadn't had previously. Later at a family Christmas, some of my husband's cousins were pouring over a small journal in which their grandma writes daily notes- simple things such as the weather and who visited her that week. What hit me was that the entire family agreed the journal would be a treasure one day. I agreed, too, but I also wondered why. Why would we treasure a woman's list of daily temperatures and guests? It's not like she is Mother Theresa. But as time passed and the more I began to incorporate Laura Ingall's habits into my own life, I concluded that we're all just trying to figure this life out and when we can catch a glimpse of how someone else does it, we can better live our own. We're all wondering, “Am I doing this right?” And maybe if we all shared what we're actually doing, we can find what's right for us and do it better. We treasure the minute details because most of our lives are lived in minute details.

All that being said, I'm a bit bothered by this generation's obsession with “platform”. Seems like every person with a camera phone has a “platform” complete with sepia selfies against a brick wall adorned with inspirational quotes (written by the themselves!) and their very own hashtag. But if anyone can hashtag themselves, then no one is credible. Credibility is proven over time. Credibility is proven after a long walk in the same direction. Laura Ingalls wrote about her life to entertain children and over time, people flocked to her because her life touched theirs. My husband's grandma probably just writes to keep track of the time, but her family is drawn to that journal because grandma has loved them all for the long haul.

So here is my conflict- I want to start this blog because I enjoy writing and because I believe that in sharing my life, people might find something to incorporate into their own. But I also cannot assume to have a platform. What the heck is my platform? Where is my credibility? Who cares what I have to say? I honestly assume none and no one. But due to social media, it appears my life at least sparks interest in others. Gossip always gets back to the gossipee and people have asked friends of my mom, “Is she for real?” (Uh, yeah, I think so??) Young moms have asked for play dates and then ask, “What do you DO all day?” Friends come over for our weekly Bible study and stand in front of our monthly dinner menu and ask, “So you cook EVERY DAY?” They look at my kids' chore list and say, “Your kids really do this?” Strangers ask, “Can I come see your bees?” “You MADE that?” “You homeschool? (and then the inevitable) How do you socialize?” All of this just leads me to believe that everybody would just like a glimpse of someone else's life now and then. Maybe to glean something for themselves; gain some different perspectives.

I actually wrote, “start another blog” on New Year's Eve 2017 as a goal for 2018. I felt it was something God was prompting me to do, but it took me a long time to obey. So here it is- my perspective. Better late than never! And away we go!