Brave New Beginnings

So, for me, this is a rather scary moment! Really scary!! Pretty much right up there with roller coasters and spiders!!! But this is something I feel compelled to do and I was always rather intense with my girls about prompt obedience. (“Delayed obedience is disobedience; go brush your teeth NOW!”) So how can I be disobedient when I feel that the Lord has instructed me to follow through on this?

I’ve only just recently discovered blogging. (I know, I’m way behind on things. But I also didn’t know how to use a computer just five short years ago! Shocking, isn’t it?!) And because I LOVE to communicate with people, I was immediately fascinated with the possibilities available through a regular blog. Apparently, you can communicate with friends from all over the world by simply keeping a consistent flow of information posted on the net.

Totally possible!

This venture has been the subject of MUCH prayer because there is nothing worse than being someone who thinks you have A LOT to say and you pretty much have NOTHING to say. So if you choose to take time to read this blog, I make you this promise – what is written will be the result of prayer and will hopefully be something that will encourage you or at least bring a smile.

As I was preparing for this first entry, the Lord finally gave me a perfect word picture to describe how I was feeling. Perhaps you’ll be able to relate. Now some of you will have to think back a little further – just like I did for this one.

Do you remember getting ready for your first day of driver’s ed? Choosing the perfect outfit, talking to your best friend the night before, sharing your anxiety with your mom, lying in bed and trying to imagine what’s coming……….

Now, for me, getting behind the wheel of an automobile was not at all frightening because Mom had been allowing me to drive on the country road leading to our house for a long time. (Yes, it was illegal “way back then” too. So, I’m certainly not advocating that with your teen-ager.)

Anyway, Mom had already braved the nail-biting lessons of:

Staying on your own side of the road;

Successfully avoiding pedestrians and small animals;

Keeping your eyes on the road at all times!

You know – the essentials. There was only one thing about driving that caused me to catch my breath with fear.

THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY!!

Don’t you remember how it felt the first few times you approached the interstate on-ramp? You knew that all the other vehicles were traveling at break-neck speed and that if you failed to “merge successfully” it would mean imminent death or at the very least, upset parents because you crashed their car? Whew! Just going back to those memories gives me heart palpitations.

And truth be known, that’s kind of how I feel again with this. Seasoned bloggers are racing along on the internet super highway. Brilliant communication is being shared, insightful, thought-provoking, even hilarious posts are whizzing by! And here I am, computer in hand, ideas flowing, heart racing - frozen in my tracks!

But I’m taking a deep breath, reminding myself that Scripture arms us with 366 different promises against

fear and I'm pressing the accelerator - uh, the “send” button. Hopefully, this will be a successful merge. One thing I know, the commitment is real and there’s no going back. This blog will last for a full year. Then we’ll see what else the Lord may have.

If you pass me doing only the minimum speed in the slow lane, just wave. At least I braved getting on the highway. I’ll find the passing lane in days to come. Thanks for braving this with me! Here we go………