Where's My Pen?

An Avid Journaler Accepting the Convenience of Technology...

When you first walk in the door of our home you can see our entire apartment from where you first stand. My husband and I have found ourselves in our first home, our humble little one bedroom residence. As you kick off your shoes to the left of the door, right of the couch-where our sneakers and rain boots have somehow found their own home-our kitchen falls to the right, decorated with red and white checkered curtains, spices line the top of the stove, and a tea kettle rests gently on its center. Look left now and you’ll see our living room-oh watch out for that lamp there, we haven’t seemed to find a better place to put it yet-and as I was saying, our bedroom is through the doorway ahead. My new husband Justin and I have just experienced the blessing of joining the belongings of two people into one space and its made for quite a cozy result. Where neither of us have ever owned enough of anything to fill an entire apartment, suddenly together by the grace of God, we make a home.

When you walk ahead a few steps we have a small table, on top of which sits our “go to” tray…A serving tray quaintly peppered with your every day things: A small porcelain bowl for spare change that sits on top of the latest coupons I’ve found.  A small bottle of scented hand sanitizer, A check or two that needs to be run to the bank, a candle, possibly a few thumb tacks, and at the end of the day Justin’s wallet adjusts in quite comfortably. About eight inches south of there is my journal shelf; reading glasses, and favored pens find a space here too, but amidst the stacks of books there’s room for little else. I started journaling when I was in the seventh grade-a very difficult year for me…To say the least I could open up an entire new blog titled “Junior high school,” but we’ll keep it with just this for now! Mostly poetry came out of me, that and short stories, it was finally an emotional outlet that was somewhat constructive…I went through notebooks and notebooks in a matter of months, before I had Christ this was my haven in my times of struggle, it was someone who’d listen and do just that. The past few years I have found such a comfort in writing…I can get-shall we say distracted quite easily, so I began writing during my time in prayer, letters-if you will-to my creator…Tears of joy and sorrow, my convictions, my struggles, everything inside my heart out through the tip of a pen. I learned very quickly that I loved this! Being able to flip through pages and see how God was working, even through old journals prior to my salvation when I felt he was nowhere to be found, I see now his hand moving so faithfully through each entry.

I am, to say the least, one of many geeks in my family. I love technology, I love electronics, I love gadgets and tools, Star wars was-and still is- a regular conversation topic among my four brothers and I, along with binary, the latest updates on the apple website, the fill in on Stargate, and a debate over computer operating systems. Electronic journaling (ie: blogging) is something you’d think I’d have taken care of long, long ago-and I have to say even though I’m pumped about starting a blog, there’s a sense of disinclination within me…Something about just me and blank pages, my favorite pen (only a writer can appreciate that…), being alone and just writing...its something you can’t reproduce with keys and a computer screen, it’s a kind of serenity that can’t be replicated. However I’m constantly running into the dilemma of wanting to share with others my journey, what the Lord is doing in my life, in my marriage… what He’s doing in my heart. 

So my dear readers, all of this was to say that this is going to be a blog of my life and the things that God is doing through this vapor of a breath he’s so graciously gifted me. I’ll talk about my joys and hardships as a newlywed, share recipe’s, cleaning tips, my art, poetry and songs…and most importantly what God is teaching me through it all. I pray that this may become an uplifting place for women of all ages to come, that you might clear off a space on your bedside table for this journal I’m writing for you to rest as you possibly encounter life as I do, reminisce on the things as I provoke memories of events that have come to pass in your life, or possibly stir dreams as you wait patiently on the Lord for such events to occur…I pray most that through everything I may write on this page that God be glorified, for what greater purpose is there for our lives than this! So join me as I embark on this journey of learning…and as a dear sister in Christ put it: not only learning how to do, but how to be…(See her blog!)

So feel free to pop in as convenient, pull my little book off the nook in your shelf as I share my life with you—and your life to me in return! It is my desire to be a breath of fresh air in your day, and I pray that God will extend me the grace to be just that…

~Sarah sue