Leaving Never Land

It's been a really long time since I had the time to sit down and write all my heart down on paper. A lot has happened, a lot has changed. I am both a stronger person than was and weaker than I ever have been before. And now I am facing something I never really thought actually happened to dreamers like me – I am indeed, growing up. In ten days, I will be graduating from high school. In eleven days, I will be saying “see you later” to my best friend. I can’t even begin to cover how much he means to me and how hard it is going to be to say “until next time” to him the day after graduation. My heart will break, but I know that God is with me and in Him, I will find the peace I need to carry on. I am leaving my home, the country I have declared my own, in fifteen days. I am coming back to the place where I never really fit into in thirty-four. I say goodbye to the place where I grew up in approximately sixty.  I arrive on Messiah’s college campus in roughly seventy-six days.

My world is a mess of counting down and never looking forward. I am terrified. I can’t bear to say goodbye to so many people for so long. I've got this nasty little thing inside me; it’s building up and creating a hole inside my heart. I am letting fear get in the way of what my God has in store for me. All the tears I have shed over the “lasts” that have taken over my heart, blinding me – I am unseeing of all the beautiful “firsts” that await me.

I will never forget this place. I will forget the people that I met, the family that I have found, the beauty that has been shown to me and the God who has been always with me. I am one blessed little girl. But the problem is, I feel like a “little girl”, I am not ready to grow up.  I feel just like Wendy Darling when she has to say goodbye to paradise and face the mysterious world of adulthood.

I am not ready. I do not want to go.

But then God is here and strangely enough, He is still holding my hand and even though I may have forgotten, He is ever present, whispering, I am with you. Always and forever.

Have faith, He says, like that of an innocent and wonderful child. Put your trust in Me and I will show the world. I will bring you to safety. I know you are scared, unsure and heartbroken, but I am here to help you through the hardest of times - the saddest of goodbyes. Who can help you more than the God who sent His Son to assure you that there will be no more goodbyes? No more emptiness, no more pain. In Me, there is no separation.

As a teenager preparing for college, my life can get a little out of control. As a Missionary Kid living thousands of miles away from where my passport tells me I'm from, identity can be hard. As a girl ready to get her life moving - my heart sometimes stops and it breaks a little bit more, telling me, begging me, to stop - God is there with me all the time, calming my crazy mind with words of a never ending love and a plan that will take my breath away. As a dreamer with her head stuck in the clouds, all this is so much more dramatic, but everything has it's place and everything has a story a behind it... 

I want to especially thank two people for showing me that it's the wonderful adventure experienced in the book, not the turning of its pages, that make a story beautiful. To my best friend, you have shown me that the small things matter the most and that when you share them with special people, the heart does a funny thing - and it fills to over flowing. You are such a blessing and I want to look back on this paragraph when we are thousands of miles apart and remember the lump in my throat I had writing this. It's nothing special of course, but know it's from my heart. You have changed me and my life will never be the same. You are my gift from God.

And to God, my first love. I know I haven't been as faithful as I should have been, especially lately. The people around me and my worries have become my focus, not You. But in front of all these people, my friends and family in Christ, I ask you to please help me fix that. You have not only taught me that You really do love me through the thick and thin, but You have already written my story, the space in between the pages and all. I love the people You have given to me, but I need to love You more. Thank you for being so merciful and gracious to me. I am nothing and yet you have taken my shame and created something beautiful. I love you God. Thank you for everything. 

I hope that you, my wonderful and patient reader, read the last paragraph and saw it as a prayer that you can send up to God as well. If you have been struggling with something and you feel like the more you fight, the more you sink, I want to assure you that God is always there. And maybe the little prayer I shared didn't fit with what you are struggling with, but I really, really encourage you to pray the cry that is on your heart. Because trust me, leaving Never Land is a heavy page to turn, but the next chapter is something so worth it.  

From,

M

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

-Romans 8:18  

Boxes, Bags and Self Image - "A Girl's Only" Blog

The 4th (and final) term of school started last week Wednesday and I was brutally taken from my beloved 2-week hibernation with term projects, graduation plans, letters, sports practices and plane tickets. By Friday (the third day of school), I was exhausted. I really looked forward to this weekend so I could simply take a step back and breathe for the first time in 72 hours... 

And if you think about it, that's exactly what I've done. 

Today is Sunday. 

• I woke up
• I got dressed (this is an achievement for me, please understand this.)
• I went to Palm Sunday Service
• I checked Facebook
• I even took a nap

Oh, and I packed up most of my life into 3 black plastic bags...

Yeah. 

All my life I have been collecting things. I have lived in two countries, made thousands of memories, wrote ten thousand words and loved one boy. And yeah, I have accumulated an insane amount of stuff in both places. Just looking around my room I see the Beta House flag, neon pink nail polish, 'Anna Karina', a Spanish Bible, a cup full of pens, sparkling berry bliss lotion, two teddy bears and a bunny. I have some pretty random crap, guys, just like you. 

But now, this chapter in my life is coming to a close and packing all these things away into boxes is just another step necessary to move on. I am sifting through things (mostly clothes right now), and piling them against the wall outside my room. The 'give aways', the 'throw aways' and the 'keeps', all mashed up against my wall. As I was standing there, looking at the Mound of Mostly Useless, I came to a very scary realization. I have spent the last couple years - my senior year mainly - hiding behind what I have. 

Even in a seemingly weaker society where materialism is supposedly a lesser issue, it is very a prevalent battle and I struggle with never having enough, or rather, never being enough. I have shamefully based my confidence - my identity - in what I look like to other person.  I have struggled with my self-image like millions of girls have before me; I have wondered whether or not I will ever be pretty enough. Now, having a boyfriend has quieted these voices more than I ever thought possible, but there is apart of me that still hates what I look like. Until recently, I was able to wear jeans and go on living my life with contacts. I hate that I have to wear glasses for Banquet and Graduation. I hate that I can't wear jeans until I leave country. For a long, long time, I hated what I saw when I looked in the mirror. And now some days, I can only tolerate it. 

I am simply not content with what I look like when I don't hide behind all the stuff I have. 

My makeup hides my imperfect skin. My clothes hide a body I am not proud of. My plastic smile hides the inadequacies I feel comparatively. 

But in reality, every part of me is a gift - a treasure known and loved by God. Awhile ago, I was told that if I look in the mirror and cringe, I cringe at God's masterpiece.

I cannot let my stuff define me, and neither can you. We are a generation of materialism and greed. We can never have enough. We can never be good enough. We can never be beautiful enough. 

So what would you do if I say that I agree with you?? What would you do if I told you that you aren't good enough? or that you will never be beautiful enough?

What would you do if I told you that because you don't have enough, you are a miserable disaster. 

It's like a slap in the face, right? 

This isn't an excuse to buy the whole world and bedeck yourself in layers and layers of plasticity. No. It means that you don't have enough and you will never have enough simply because you're looking for all the wrong things.  

You need God to be truly beautiful. That is all.

Think of it like this, you will never be perfect physically because God is a loving God. How sick and boring life would be if we all looked the same? How ordinary. If we all had that perfect stomach or that perfect hair we have envied for years, wouldn't it make sense that if we all had that American Eagle tan and perfect body, no one would be ever be beautiful? We are creatures of imperfection to glorify a perfect Creator. When a woman is  really, really beautiful, she has the perfection of her Savior shining through her cracked imperfection.

And really? As hard as it is to accept such a trivial answer, God loves us and He cares about the appearance of our hearts and minds much more than whether or not we have a gap between our thighs. And to Him, if we are pursuing True Beauty and running toward the reason why we are here, we are the most beautiful things alive. 

Don't let your identity be one that is easily packed away into a box or a bag. Your identity is who you are, a precious gift. Don't waste it. Your identity is the name the God of the Universe calls you by, a beautiful princess. Don't you dare cover it up.  

Now ask yourself....

"Am I Beautiful?"

From,

-M

"If Jesus gives us a task or assigns us to a difficult season, every ounce of our experience is meant for our instruction and completion if only we'll let Him finish the work. I fear, however, that we are so attention-deficit that we settle for bearable when beauty is just around the corner."  --Beth Moore

Among the Beaches and the Palm Trees - a Thank You

The story of life, friends, a little love, and a God who carries me through. 

I'd like if you take a journey with me to a place I call home and experience a little something I call 'family'. 

**In case you're wondering, we always look like this. Trust me, my class is the best one out there. The good, the bad, the sane and the senile - we're all here, happy and unashamed. We took this on our Senior Retreat on the shores of an uninhabited island straight out of a National Geographic magazine. Be jealous my friends, Papua New Guinea is the most beautiful country in the world.

Home is usually defined through the confines of a building. We take our first steps as a child in the safe haven of our home, we take our boyfriend or girlfriend home to meet our parents for the first time, we go back home after a long day of work. This is normal. 

Family is usually defined by direct, blood relation. Your mom, your pop, your sisters and brothers are the first people you learn to love based on your differences and supposed hatred toward each other. You bond with your family in a way rare to the outside world. But if a family's doing the right things and living as a household under God, a family's love is unbreakable. This is the typical picture of a family- live, pray, love, family.

But spending the past three years as a Missionary Kid really shakes things up when it comes to the crucial questions like who am I? and where do I belong? I no longer view my house in the United States as my home. My dad had made incredible renovations to make the simple modular house into a spectacular home for the time - we lived in it for 11 years. And to say that I no longer view that place as my home is not saying I do not still cherish the memories, still learn from my expediences and love the people I have met. I love my friends in the States, I miss them desperately and I can't wait until I see them in a few short months. I simple do not view the building I lived in for 11 years as my home anymore. But home for me, is something different entirely. 

I believe that my home is wherever family is. 

You can take this several different ways:

1. Wherever my actual, blood-related family reside my home will as well

2. the Body of Christ 

3. The deep relationships that are sometimes forged through fire are just as much family as my blood brothers and sisters. Wherever they go, wherever they are, all over the world - that is my home. 

If you couldn't tell, I lean toward the third option. I'm not saying that the above two are wrong, because they're not. They are essential and just as full of love as the last. But number 3 gives me a different kind of hope I believe only people who live overseas can understand. I hope you can grasp the love I feel for these people when I say the senior class of UISSC is like a second family to me. You don't get that in the States. You just don't. How incredibly blessed I am. 

So often in the missions field, friends leave you seemingly all alone. In all honesty, I can't speak for this because I have been blessed to be in a class whose parents planned their furloughs so they wouldn't have to leave their sophomore, junior or senior years. But there are other things that can take a family way in a matter of days, leaving the missions field a very uncertain place. Life is full of unpredictability here. (But I do have had a very special friend leave last year from a grade below me and she is what makes this blog a little more credible.)

Having a friend in Ukarumpa is something that exceeds many surface-level friendships in the States.  Wait! Don't kill me yet for I fear I have just overstepped my bounds. What I mean to say is to have a friend here is to have a relationship for life. People move and people leave so frequently that MK's and missionaries alike forge deep friendships at sometimes record speeds (I'm talking in general terms, of course. There are people who don't, but for the sake of my point, pretend there aren't) and these fast friends can last a lifetime. But sometimes, especially in the month of June for Ukarumpa families, life is rather dull when friends leave to their home-countries. 

But there is a hope among this chaos - a hope that makes saying goodbye worth it. Now, all over the world (I'm not kidding: Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Finland, Australia, Germany, Romania, China, Japan. They really are everywhere), I have friends for life. That is a very special feeling for a person like me, just about 2 months away from climbing into a plane that will take me away from my home and into a place that is everything but completely foreign to me, knowing that I will have opportunities to see many of them again. Most of my class is likely attending US colleges - which is even more encouraging - but it's also a cool concept knowing that I really do have family all across the globe. 

I have cried with many of the guys and the girls in my class as we have faced both similar and divergent burdens and trials throughout the years. Especially lately. We have come closer than ever before knowing that the life we're living now will soon come to a close as a new chapter unfolds.   have come to love like I have never loved before. 

All I want to say now is thank you. Thank you for accepting me and thank you for all the memories. You will always have a place in my heart...always. 

We are united. Under one God, we will live forever in a place where there are no more goodbyes. 

From,

-M

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

1 Corinthians 3:16

A Beautiful Pain and a Saving Grace - Senior Retreat 2014

Bless the Lord Oh my soul, Oh my soul
Worship His Holy Name
Sing like never before, Oh my soul
Worship Your Holy Name 

- Chorus from "10 Thousand Reasons", favorite song of UIS class of 2014

Every morning many of the senior girls would stand out on the porch of the house we were staying in and watch the sunrise come over the vastness of the ocean that lay sprawled out before us. Sometimes they would sing, other times they would pray, sometimes they would simply watch as the sun slowly overtook the sky. I can only truly speak for one time, as mornings hate me and getting out of bed at 9 is hard enough let alone 5:30, but I heard them. And it was beautiful. I was up early enough on the last day to see it in person and on that day, we sang "10,000 Reasons". David, I imagine, had a very similar experience when he wrote Psalm 108. "I will awaken the dawn!" he said. I can picture him standing on a large boulder - in a place only he and God can reach - arms lifted to the heavens and singing to the God of the Universe, watching as his song seemingly lifted the sun from its hiding place. What Majesty our God has set before us. 

**I was going to write about Beautiful Things, a separate devotion we touched on throughout the course of the senior retreat. But in the middle of writing it, news came to me that compelled me to change this blog to the other topic we talked about - suffering. But personally, I believe that suffering and beauty do not have to be separate things. I hope I illustrated that well. I hope I made the right decision in writing 'A Beautiful Pain', may God use this as a guide or comfort to at least one of you reading this.**

But life cannot be meaningful until the sunrises and songs are distant enough that to "go on living" means to walk through the darkness and silence. As human beings, we love our comfort and our luxuries. We like to feel pampered and worry-free. But as Christians, we must realize that that life is not worth living at all. Okay, okay, don't get me wrong, being comfortable is good, having pleasures are good. I'd love if my life was at all worry-free. But what would we be as followers of a persecuted and victorious Jesus, if we never faced suffering ourselves? As another devotion a sponsor shared with us over the course of our senior retreat, suffering is a scary topic. We don't want to be persecuted in any way, we hate the idea of feeling out of place or forgotten. We don't like it that more often than not we have to go through some sort of pain, feeling of inadequacy, failure or trial to learn a lesson. But as hard as it is to hear, suffering is meant to glorify God. Getting through the suffering is not the end of it all either. It is crucial, yes, to walk through the valley of death and simply survive, but there is still the question what you do afterwards. 

God blessed me with an opportunity to grow, will I take it? Or leave it. 

Just hours after spending days on tropical beaches, swimming to desolate islands, stargazing and breathing in ocean air, the reality of a disease-ridden world came knocking at my door. Don't panic, I'm alive and well. I'm still breathing, I can move each of my limbs and the sting from the jellyfish doesn't even hurt anymore. I am okay. But you must realize that the transition between hearing what your parents tell you to actually understanding it is a tough one. Three of the strongest women I have ever known have been infected with a form of cancer. Obliviously, I cannot tell you specifically who these people are, but I do ask - beg, actually - for prayer for these women. Spiritual and physical strength, understanding, peace: this is what they need. Healing too, please, if God so wills to heal such beautiful warriors.

Suffering. 

I find myself asking how this can possibly bring glory to God, how can so much pain be under-control? I want to be angry. I want to question God's motives. I want to say something that it'll make everything go away. I'm not even one of the cancer patients, but I still want to know...why?...

I'd guess that many of you ask similar questions when you go through things like this. And I'll assume that all of you have faced some sort of suffering in your life. But let me voice to you an encouragement that has really spoke to me the past couple of hours (as news a little less than devastating came to my house just hours ago about one of the women in particular). On this side of eternity, life is hard because of two primary reasons: 

1. we sin and we deserve this, and much worse. We are given a choice here whether or not to let this time kill us completely or rejuvenate our faith in our Saving Grace. 

2. suffering gives us a reason to look forward to heaven, a place where there is no threat of death, no weeping and no goodbyes. 

I love these women like I love the dearest of friends. If you are in fact one of them, please know that I have seen you as a role model, even before your diagnosis. I don't think it's by chance 3 of the most influential women in my life have been diagnosed with the same disease (so much so, they probably don't even know it). I know what I want for them. I want them to make it through and live long, happy, comfortable lives. But I also know that I am hopelessly out of control when it comes to my opinion, because I don't know the whole story. I do not know the ultimate outcome. Fortunately, God does. He knows the ins, outs and ups and downs of all our lives. He has the very blueprint of my life laid out in front of him, as He has yours. My desires for these women aren't wrong. I want the best for them and I want to keep learning from their lives as strong Christian women. But I have to realize that my God has something far greater in His plan than I ever could have in mine. It sounds terribly cheesy, I know. But think about it. God sent His Son to die for a fallen world. He died on the cross to save to dying, the lost and the weary. He gave us a hope in that we will see our brothers and sisters in Christ again. We will see their smiles again. Don't ever feel like you have no more hope left, reader. Always, always take comfort in the hope of new life. A new perfection. 

"Look at your classmates smiles today. Each one of them are so different and yet so incredibly beautiful. What makes them happy? What makes them sad or frustrated? Look them in the eyes and really, really enjoy this time you have left with who many have come to call your second family. Embrace these last months because you are meant to be here. You are meant to love these people. And you are meant to say goodbye."

- Paraphrased, abridged and slightly altered devotional one of our sponsors shared with us on the last day of the Retreat 

From, 

-M

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lordis your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

Psalm 121:3-8

Into the Ashes - Am I Good Enough?

I don't know about you, but some days, I just feel empty. Now don't get me wrong, I have way too much to say that I feel the kind of empty that involves a purposeless and hopeless life. I have an Almighty God that loves me, a beautiful family that gives me a belonging, friends that make me laugh so hard I get a little mini-six-pack every time I'm around them, and I have a wonderful and fantastic boyfriend that looks me in the eye day after day, and tells me "You're beautiful". I guess you could say I have the life many envy. I know that I am blessed, loved and cherished. But I also know that there is a difference between knowing something and living it out. 

I don't feel like I'm doing anything important, saying something worth remembering, giving anything of worth - I don't feel like I'm good enough. I suppose many Christians, adults and teenagers alike, have a similar feeling about their work. And like all of your jobs, mine is complicated. As a missionary kid, senior in high school, Bible Study leader and a loud-mouth dreamer, I fear my life is under constant observation. Sometimes it's overwhelming how impenetrable the wall of eyes are. When will I fail? When will I break?

But it seems as though I am blaming others, but I mean something else entirely. I have also created a wall around myself, one that stands guard over my hopes, dreams, doubts and fears. On the inside I don't want to give it all up, I don't want to risk losing something (or someone) I love. In fact, the feeling very well destroys me. 

Am I hiding behind a mask? 

Am I just pretending? 

If there was no faking, would I be good enough? 

I leave most everything I do and slump, my mind is racing and yet I feel everything but accomplished and fulfilled. Eventually, the feelings of inadequacy and ineptitude begin to gnaw away at my heart. It is as though I never tried anything worth doing. Risk anything worth giving. Sacrifice anything worth life-changing.  I suppose that is why I have distanced myself so completely from the life I began my senior year living. I am caught up in my own life, my own dreams and aspirations, I am too preoccupied (and to be honest, too exhausted) to make a difference in the land God has called me to. I will be leaving soon, my family and my friends will soon be far enough away Facebook will make me homesick. I don't have time to be this self-centered. I don't have time to "get back to it later". 

My time - our time - is now. 

Emptiness kills, vanity destroys and love penetrates deep enough to confuse us completely. Enjoy the life you have been given, but no one ever said that this is all you can be. Break down that wall you have built around your treasures and let God be your treasure, let God be your stronghold and the rest will simply come. 

I'm no genius, I'm not a music prodigy, Bible scholar or cover-girl Barbie doll. Heck, I haven't even graduated from high school. I am no one special. 

But that's where God comes in. He makes me special enough to love.  

From, 

-M

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10

The End of the Beginning - Saying Goodbye

Graduating is a funny thing, if you think about it. Lately, my life has sped up, my mind is in shambles, my knees lock and my hands shake. My dreams really do scream insanity. Many highschoolers face this very anxiety; you all know what I'm talking about when I say between your mom jokes and too much spray-on deodorant, "the real world" can’t come fast enough. But the problem is "the real world" for MKs is a bit of a paradox. You see, "the real world" isn't just moving out of the house, getting a job, paying for your own car fare, meals, underwear and toothpaste - it's not just about college. It's about moving to a different part of the world entirely. We must adjust to a new culture, a new time zone, a new way of thinking…all before move-in day.

I am fairly new to this whole MK thing in comparison to most of my TCK buddies (some have only spent 3 years out of their 18-19 in their home country. This is not to mention the four Papua New Guinean seniors who plan to attend four different US universities this September; they have never been to America, and now they will be expected to survive college on their own. Prayers please!) But no matter how “nupela bel” I am, I call PNG my home. Sure, America is my passport country and of course, I look forward to seeing all your beautiful faces when I come back in July, but in all honesty, Papua New Guinea is my resting place. It is where my heart resides. The hills, the gardens, the long (and ferocious, if I might be so frank) rides to Goroka, Lae and Madang, the Highlands smile, the Lowlands pineapple, everything. My heart breaks whenever I think about leaving it all behind.  And besides, when I step onto that plane, I'm not only leaving behind this beauty, I will also be saying goodbye (or "see you soon" as we're calling it) to my boyfriend, a Papua New Guinean who will also be going to the States but attending University nearly 10 hours away. (PS: He treats me like a princess everyday and he will always, always hold a special place in my heart...)

Saying goodbye is going to rip me apart, quite frankly. But some days I feel as though I might actually burst when I think about college on top of it all. I'll be struggling with culture shock (including but not limited to American clothing, carpets, new car smells, high-speed internet and   carton, whole milk) while trying to find my dorm room. I'll be getting my driver's license just days before I commute. I'll be homesick/countrysick/peoplesick by the time my family leaves me alone for the last time.

My life is going to be so different.  

But maybe, saying goodbye is some sort of crazy, messed up blessing-in-disguise, you know? I'm going to be seeing many of my friends again (MKs have this incredible ability to connect and meet years after graduation) but many I will not. I have this indescribable photo of 19 Papua New Guinea orphans who stole my heart on the Missions Trip to Lae City in December. They are some of the most precious faces, and yet, I will not be able to see them again. I co-lead a Bible Study for 7th grade girls and it's full of 7 beautiful young ladies that have filled my heart to overflowing more than once...7 girls I may never see again. My heart is breaking. But heaven is a place where there are no more goodbyes. I like to think of heaven as a Welcome Home party, a celebration full of every person I have ever missed, ever had to say goodbye to. I think it’s gotta be an MK thing.

I am so weak when I have to let people go, but He is my strength. I am incapable of saying farewell alone, but He is my everything. When I have no words to say, He is my voice, He will speak.

When my world is falling apart and I can’t even bother to pick up the pieces,  He is my duct tape. 

I don’t know about any of you reading this stateside, but I have a feeling that my friends in Ukarumpa might be having similar fears and anxieties. Every time you think about us, please pray for peace, understanding, comfort and wisdom. We have played the role of Missionary Kid in one place, now it our time to become Missionaries in another. God help us.

From,
-M

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future.

Jeremiah 29:11

I'm Just Another Dreamer in Paradise - Why I Decided to Blog

Sup, guys?

...Wait.
Can I start over? Please?


Hi.

As an introduction, I'd like to formally welcome you to my new blog: "An MK Thing" (If you actually needed that sentence, I really do love people like you - you make introducing these sorts of things a whole lot easier. And slightly less awkward....) And for those of you who have either forgotten about us or somehow missed the reason why the Michael family suddenly left America for 3 years, we are working as undercover agents at the Department of... Haha, I'm kidding. Please, I'd love it if you laughed at my less then honorable humor.  Actually, we are serving as a support team for Wyliffe Bible Translators on an island just north of Australia. Papua New Guinea is in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean and is the home of over 850 language groups.

I am nearing the very end of my high school career as well as my time in Papua New Guinea. PNG has become my home and leaving it and all the life-long friends I have been blessed with will be the hardest thing I'll ever do.

This blog will cover my feelings toward wrapping up my life in Ukarumpa, my new experiences as a college student in the midst of culture shock, my frustrations regarding taxes, money, food, hairless men, politics, and everything in between. But most of all, I pray this blog will act as an encouragement to you. I will be fighting battles that may speak to you, I'll have a few victories and a truck-full of failures, I'll have moments of excitement and dread, hope and despair, joy and sadness. I want to use this as a tool to let my readers know that everything, no matter how painful it is in the middle, will turn out just right in the end. I will state my point, don't worry, I'm a writer, stating is what I do. But I am also a Christian and I have faith in the knowledge that God has a plan for me, and every second of every day, I'm just stumbling through the pages of an already written book, anxious to find my Creator. And I will (hopefully) approach my blogs as such.

I hope you enjoy this! Because this is a blog strictly for family and friends, please, if you ever have any questions, comments or if you ever need to vent, please let me know. I'd love to listen.

From
-M