I have a confession.
Lately I have been struggling with the idea of keeping up with the blog! It's an ongoing thought process where half of me really wants to write, and the other half doesn't. The half that doesn't is due to multiple reasons, but the main reason is that I feel like I have found so many blogs to be discouraging and straight up selfish of late. I realized that blogging most of the time really IS selfish - I mean, you are writing about YOUR thoughts, YOUR feelings, YOUR opinions, YOUR beliefs, and YOUR LIFE. It's all about you.
Originally this blog started out as David and I embarked on our journey overseas to Eastern Europe in Summer 2012. It seemed like a great way to keep people updated in between different camps, outreaches, and conferences - and it made things a lot easier considering time differences! Well, after our mission trip ended in late July, a new chapter of our lives began as we were married in August and then whisked away to our new home in Chicago. Again, keeping the blog going seemed like a good idea because it allowed us to keep friends and family from all corners of the Earth updated from one place.
Now we are in Hawaii, where I have spent most of my life apart from our wonderful year and a half in Chicago. Life seems to be more normal now, David has a steady and demanding job, I'm staying at home with Ryenne, and Ryenne is doing her job by growing up faster than ever. And here is where my dilemma has arisen from. We have just a normal life now. We aren't flying to the ends of the earth anytime soon, we aren't moving to a new home anytime soon - we are just living life where God has us right now.
And I am not complaining! I love the simple life. I love my job of staying at home with Ryenne and interacting with her and having the privilege of raising her to know God. I love sending my hubby off to work with kisses at the front door and waving goodbye with Ryenne in my arms as David whizzes off to work on his bike. I love hanging up the laundry in the backyard. I love learning about gardening and eating fresh fruits and veggies from our yard! I love having family worship together in the mornings when David is home. I love having date nights with David where we just make a pizza together and choose a movie to watch snuggled up on the couch together while Ryenne snoozes away in dreamland. I love my life! And I am so thankful to God for these beautiful mundane things.
But, after recently coming across other blogs where I feel discouraged or disheartened or just plain depressed by the time I've finished reading, I have started to question the purpose of our own blog and wonder what kind of impression it leaves on others who read it. Most of the time our lives are just normal and ordinary now, and that makes me worried that blogging will become a selfish place where the world revolves around us. It seems that blogging many times is either a soap box where we can voice our opinions in the most obscene way possible, or a place where we showcase our lives as being perfect and unrealistic. Honestly, I don't want this to be either of those things!
So, after reflecting, reflecting, and reflecting some more, I think I've finally gotten a grasp of what the purpose behind our blog really is, and has been from the start. Truly, our hope is that this is a place where we can share stories extraordinary and ordinary that will bring glory to God and ultimately show the marvelous way that He works in our lives. And that you as the reader will not feel disheartened or cut off, feeling like God only works wonders in our lives - but that your eyes would be opened to see the areas in your own life where God has done beautiful things too.
Today I realized that, as with anything else, if I want to see a change in things, then I have to be willing to step up and be that change. I won't get lost in the "depths of despair" where I look around myself at all the negatives and hide from it! Instead, I've decided to maintain the blog and to continue to go about it with purpose - using the blog as just another outlet to bring God glory in whatever we do.
May our words and stories and journey through life reflect at every point God's goodness, sovereignty, and beauty in everything! This blog isn't about US. It's about HIM!
~ Randie Megan
Lately I have been struggling with the idea of keeping up with the blog! It's an ongoing thought process where half of me really wants to write, and the other half doesn't. The half that doesn't is due to multiple reasons, but the main reason is that I feel like I have found so many blogs to be discouraging and straight up selfish of late. I realized that blogging most of the time really IS selfish - I mean, you are writing about YOUR thoughts, YOUR feelings, YOUR opinions, YOUR beliefs, and YOUR LIFE. It's all about you.
Originally this blog started out as David and I embarked on our journey overseas to Eastern Europe in Summer 2012. It seemed like a great way to keep people updated in between different camps, outreaches, and conferences - and it made things a lot easier considering time differences! Well, after our mission trip ended in late July, a new chapter of our lives began as we were married in August and then whisked away to our new home in Chicago. Again, keeping the blog going seemed like a good idea because it allowed us to keep friends and family from all corners of the Earth updated from one place.
Now we are in Hawaii, where I have spent most of my life apart from our wonderful year and a half in Chicago. Life seems to be more normal now, David has a steady and demanding job, I'm staying at home with Ryenne, and Ryenne is doing her job by growing up faster than ever. And here is where my dilemma has arisen from. We have just a normal life now. We aren't flying to the ends of the earth anytime soon, we aren't moving to a new home anytime soon - we are just living life where God has us right now.
And I am not complaining! I love the simple life. I love my job of staying at home with Ryenne and interacting with her and having the privilege of raising her to know God. I love sending my hubby off to work with kisses at the front door and waving goodbye with Ryenne in my arms as David whizzes off to work on his bike. I love hanging up the laundry in the backyard. I love learning about gardening and eating fresh fruits and veggies from our yard! I love having family worship together in the mornings when David is home. I love having date nights with David where we just make a pizza together and choose a movie to watch snuggled up on the couch together while Ryenne snoozes away in dreamland. I love my life! And I am so thankful to God for these beautiful mundane things.
But, after recently coming across other blogs where I feel discouraged or disheartened or just plain depressed by the time I've finished reading, I have started to question the purpose of our own blog and wonder what kind of impression it leaves on others who read it. Most of the time our lives are just normal and ordinary now, and that makes me worried that blogging will become a selfish place where the world revolves around us. It seems that blogging many times is either a soap box where we can voice our opinions in the most obscene way possible, or a place where we showcase our lives as being perfect and unrealistic. Honestly, I don't want this to be either of those things!
So, after reflecting, reflecting, and reflecting some more, I think I've finally gotten a grasp of what the purpose behind our blog really is, and has been from the start. Truly, our hope is that this is a place where we can share stories extraordinary and ordinary that will bring glory to God and ultimately show the marvelous way that He works in our lives. And that you as the reader will not feel disheartened or cut off, feeling like God only works wonders in our lives - but that your eyes would be opened to see the areas in your own life where God has done beautiful things too.
Today I realized that, as with anything else, if I want to see a change in things, then I have to be willing to step up and be that change. I won't get lost in the "depths of despair" where I look around myself at all the negatives and hide from it! Instead, I've decided to maintain the blog and to continue to go about it with purpose - using the blog as just another outlet to bring God glory in whatever we do.
May our words and stories and journey through life reflect at every point God's goodness, sovereignty, and beauty in everything! This blog isn't about US. It's about HIM!
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