I Have a Blog! Now What? (So What?)

First, the name of this blog. Terry Wardle -- a man I greatly admire and whose ministry has radically changed my life over the past couple of years -- speaks about how we need to be on three simultaneous journeys: upward to God, outward to others, and inward to ourselves. When he said that, I saw an image of a triangle in a wheel...and when all three sides of the triangle were "firing," the wheel moved forward. When even one side of the triangle wasn't "on," the wheel was still. What I took away from this is that in order to move FORWARD (some might prefer the word "onward") I need to constantly be moving upward, outward and inward, otherwise I will get stuck and stagnant.

This has been very profound and revelatory in my life. I regularly check in with myself...am I engaging with God (upward), with others (outward) and with myself (inward)? (And inward can also mean engaging with God since He lives in me! I'm sure I'll talk about that somewhere down the road.)

So when I sat in front of the screen that asked me to name this blog, it took me awhile to settle on the title. After all, I'm "into" many things...Jesus, my family, friends, food, cooking, restaurants, music, singing, worship, the ocean, travel, Paris, books, all things French, chocolate, formational prayer, counseling, "inner healing," relationships, movies...did I say food? But they all fall somewhere along the upward/outward/inward journeys. Everything I do...all of my passions...all of my longings, thoughts, feelings, opinions...all fall somewhere along that triangle. It is all part of "the magic that is me," which is one of my favorite quotes from "Frasier." Musing on all of that gave me my title. It might be cumbersome, but so am I. :)

We'll see where this blog takes me...and us...if there is an "us" at all! I have no idea who would want to regularly read my musings. I just know I need some kind of outlet for the zillions of things that swirl around in my head and heart...and Facebook is not the place for it all. A few people in my life have said I need to write, and not just in my journal. A few others have said they want to hang out with me more because they feel I have things to say that speak to them. I'm flattered and blessed by that, but I have to have lots of "down time" away from people to recharge this ailing body -- more on that at some point, I'm sure -- so I thought this could help me "hang out" with friends, old and new, in some way.

Please know I don't expect this blog to always be serious. I will share recipes, jokes, funny things I see on bumper stickers, signs, and on Facebook; I love to take a light-hearted view of things, at least some of the time. But I also intend to write about serious matters of the heart...specifically MY heart. I'm a complete "F" on the Myers-Briggs, yet I also seem to have some amount of intellect which causes the bit of "T" to rise up and say, "Hey! Don't forget about me!!" I do think a lot...probably too much sometimes. The point I'm trying to make is that this blog is going to be a stew pot of many things, just as I am. I find I hold many things in tension; perhaps blogging will be a way to release some of that tension. Speaking of releasing tension, this will most likely NOT be a cuss-free zone, so be prepared for the occasional f-bomb when I feel it's necessary. However, you do have my word I will NEVER take the Lord's name in vain. (And while I'm a self-professed grammar geek, I know I overuse quotation marks and asterisks to help emphasize things, and I'm an ellipsis junkie...sorry!)

So...welcome fellow pilgrims on the upward/outward/inward journeys! Welcome to those who might be interested in getting on board; welcome friends, old and new...welcome to the magic that is me!! (And I welcome comments, but I ask that they be respectful and gentle. No flame throwers, please.)

I look forward to whatever this may bring.

On the journeys,

Nina