Why I blog…

(So that I can share stinkin' cute pictures of my children. *laughter* )

Seriously though. LL tagged me for her 'five ways blogging changed my life' meme, and I also had someone ask me last night what I wrote about, so it's about time I quantified just exactly what Life in the Making is all about. Before I answer LL's meme, though, a little back history for many of the readers who have just recently begun to read here.

I started this little space mostly as a way to share with grandparents the goings on of our days, with all the associated stinkin' cute pictures that go along with that. I've also been a part of the 2peas scrapbooking community for a very long time, and liked the idea of having a blog to share my most recent creations in a more in depth form…talking about how and when and why, what inspired me, etc. I had no 'big dreams' for this space. It was started more for practical reasons than anything else. And then…well…the blogging bug bit, and hard. I suddenly realized that there was a whole world of blogs out there full to the brim of people's life stories, and I suddenly realized that I could make my blog much more reflective of who I was instead of being a repository of the detritus of my life. I realized it was okay not only to talk about every day kid stuff, I could talk about life and faith and art and, and, and, and…here we are. I could take my degree in English and my love of writing and art and use it to make a place in cyber-land where people could visit and feel refreshed, encouraged, and loved. I hope that when people stop by they get a glimpse of the Lover of my soul that loves them too. I try to keep it real, though, and be honest about my struggles and failings (hence, the confessions and musings byline).  I want readers to know that I am real, broken person on a journey towards Home.

Which brings me to LL. Here's the rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post (I'm
not so much interested in generating links, but rather in tracking the
meme so I can perhaps do a summary post later on that looks at patterns
and interesting discoveries.)
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

* One of the first things that changed my life in the blogging experience was the discovery that there were many crafters, graphic designers, and all manner of artists making a living at home. I guess my perception of what I could do from home had been limited. Not too soon after this discovery, I started Memoria.Arts Design Studio. I haven't been able to do as much as I have wanted to do with it, but at the same time, projects have come along at regular intervals that perfectly fit a need in our budget. I do a total mishmash of things under that header: web design (everything you see here on the blog, I've designed and fit into the template typepad provides); graphic design in terms of logos, business cards, letterhead, and the like; photography (everything that is posted here, except for one picture of a cathedral, is all my own work), both candid and posed (babies and weddings mostly). I credit most of this discovery process to Amanda Soule and Ali Edwards. I would really like to open up an Etsy shop at some point, and polish my business and marketing skills.

* In almost rapid fire sucession, I found a lot of blogs that were from moms who stayed at home and blogged about homemaking and mothering. Some of my favorites are Pleasant View Schoolhouse and A Path Made Straight, and The Flourishing Mother. It was just a huge shot in the arm for me. I felt so encouraged, and so inspired, by these bloggers. Instead of talking down about what often many people percieve as drudgery, they talked about it in a way that seemed very matter of fact, everyday, even beautiful. They helped (and help) me to understand my calling as a mother.  It wasn't just in the esoteric sense, either. I've learned so much in the practical sense about what mothering and housekeeping and being a wife is. (That, and there are seriously good recipes are circling out there!)

* Through some of those very same bloggers, I discovered blogs like Holy Experience, A Study in Brown, and Sanctuary Moment. There was a profound interior shift in my life at that point. It's pretty hard to explain. I was raised in the church. But the example, testimony, and writing of these ladies struck me hard. Faith is meant to be an everyday, living, breathing, walking, worshipping experience, in the quotidian moments, and in the exalted ones, in the valleys and in the mountain tops. I found myself really considering for the first time in my life what that meant in my everyday. Much of what I have blogged in the Faith category within the last eight months is in that vein. Those that have been reading here for a long time have probably noted that extensive shift.

* Real life relationships. This is such a fun story to tell. I had read A Path Made Straight (Elise) for going on a year or so, when on a whim, I clicked through her linked friends, and found Beautiful Days (Rebekah). I must have read her blog for six months until one day, I noticed she lived in the same state as me. I dropped an email and said hello. Come to find out, we live literally 20 minutes from one another. We're now good off-line friends. God answered a deep prayer of my heart through blogging, and in such a neat way, all three of us know it was God's doing!

* The most profound effect of blogging on me? Community. Knowing that I am not alone. Knowing that people have walked the journey before me. Knowing that people are praying. It was apparent during James' cancer scare, and it was thrown into sharp relief in this last month with the loss of our child and my subsequent surgery. And, two, that it was okay to say "help!" I think we in the Christian community really struggle with this. It's hard to say that we are struggling or stumbling, or that our faith is dimming in the face of hardship. But until we admit to it, there is no way for fellow believers to help and carry the burden with us, which is God's design and intent. ( I've recently been reading Acts 2:42-47, and have been reminded that "and all who believed were together and had all things in common".) The  blogging community blows my mind. That there are people praying for me all over the US and farther, and that I am praying for other bloggers all over the world.  At the end of the day, we share similar struggles and losses, dreams and successes.

So there ya go.

I tag:
{And I realize that everyone is getting into the swing of the school year, so take your time!}

Rebekah (of course!)
Elise (again, of course!)
Andrea
Samantha
Suzy
(and Suzy, I am getting to your tag next! )