Really God? Another Blog?

Hi there. Welcome to the Prairie. This blog has a humble beginning, as I have been opposed to starting yet another project that has the potential to be discarded in the face of the realities of daily life. For instance, I can look around our little home right now and see my children's clothes strewn everywhere, two little faces that long for face to face time with mommy, dishes piled up in the sink, dogs that need to be walked and bathed, barely unpacked boxes, and routines yet to be created for a home/town/school/job we've only been in for 2 1/2 weeks! 

So...Blogging! Yeah, it may be a crazy thing to do, but it's something one of my girlfriends back home in Washington (ya, you know who you are!!! lol) nagged, ahem, I mean encouraged me to write. And although I've been dragging my feet every time I think about it, the Lord keeps bringing it to my mind.  The conversation goes something like this: 

Me: "Are you crazy, Lord? Can't you see how I can barely keep up with the stuff I've ALREADY got going on? I'm supposed to be doing this stuff to Your glory, but I feel like a miserable failure at all of it at least some of the time and some of it ALL of the time!" (to abuse Abraham Lincoln just a bit). God: "Nope.  I'm a totally normal guy. Just ask anyone. Your regular couch potato. Didn't I mention that when you signed up for this gig to hang out with Me and put Me on the throne of your life?" Me: Heavy sigh. OK, I get it. You're an unconventional God who works in unconventional ways. But I really don't see why anyone would want to read about my life or anything going on with me and my family when there is such a plethora of people out there already doing the same thing. God: It's not your job to decide whose heart I plan to touch with the story of your life. It is your job to submit your life to ME and let My light shine THROUGH you. It's not about YOU. It's about ME. I gave you a gift - you love to write. You are compelled to write. Who do you think I gave you that gift so you could write about...you, or ME? I gave you the gift. Trust Me to use it for the furthering of My own purposes. Allow me to be the Light that shines in your life. You write. I will speak to whom I choose, when I choose, and HOW I choose to. 

Hm. That's a conversation stopper right there. Or should I say a blog starter.

I am not going to re-invent the wheel here...I AM a writer, I DO love to write, and I have already written several journal posts, which, in order for this blog to make any sense at all, I must go back and post some of them here. So you can start here with this day, or go back in time to see how our little family of four from Centralia, Washington, ended up out here on the windy prairies of North Dakota. It's a pretty interesting story, and I'll be eagerly 'turning the pages' along with you to see where it leads, because, unlike some folks who have a great idea of where they're headed in life, I have sort of realized God wants me to give up the reigns on that one and just trust Him to take us where He wants us to go, so that He can accomplish His greater purpose, whatever it might be, in and through us. 

So, with the wild Dakota winds at our backs and God as our Guide, we are setting aside just about everything in life we're familiar with, moving waaaaay out of our comfort zones, and hoping to be vessels God can use for His Glory as a

Little Light On The Prairie