What's The Take-Away?

A few weeks ago a friend commented that my blog has gotten a bit more positive. I think she actually said something like, “your blog used to be more negative”. She likes seeing a “take away” from each post—a “what I’ve learned from this mess” statement.

The truth is, a ton of stuff has happened, and is still happening, that I don’t understand and for which I have not yet discovered the purpose.

A few months ago I wrote a post called, “Forgive Me If I Have A Bad Day” in which I wrote a list of some of the traumatic happenings of my life. A few people slammed me over that one! A family member asked my kids to check on me as she thought I might be considering suicide.

A couple of days later I wrote a follow-up post called, “More Good Days Than Bad”. It was the flipside of all the bad stuff—looking at the blessings that come through the tragedy. The aforementioned family member said, “I like this post much better”. Some people are afraid of the dark.

The title of my blog is “Liz by Design…Our Journey”.

Life is a journey. That is simplifying things a bit and is exactly the kind of bumper sticker theology that I like to avoid. However, it is truth.

When I first started blogging 5 years ago I did it for me. I wanted to keep a record of where we’d come from, where we were, and where life would take us. I could see that some of the small details were already slipping away and I recognized that even the minutia was going to be important on this journey.

Of late, I’ve started thinking in terms of gaining more readers and I recognize that you want to be uplifted, challenged, or filled with fuzzy goodness. I also recognize that you are very, very smart and I don’t need to placate you or soft-pedal the truth.

I’d like to get our story published one day, as I want you to believe in miracles as much as I do. I want you to know that I know that God is still in the business of marvelous wonders.

Here’s the deal—I really don’t understand why some of the bad stuff has had to happen. I don’t yet see the purpose and the deeper meaning. That’s especially true when it comes to some of the ugliness that’s come at the hands of so-called “friends”. I recognize that sometimes stuff happens for which there might not be a take-away—it just is.

I also like the idea of shooting questions out into the blogosphere in hopes that it boomerangs back to me in the form of answers. I want to stir conversation, share experiences, and find others like me—people who feel alone.

The single most difficult part of our journey so far is the isolation.

I may not always have the answers and my blog might not be teeming with fuzzy Christian platitudes. I try to write in English…not Christianese.

I’m a mom who loves her prodigal children (oops…there I go speaking Christianese) more than life itself and a woman who wakes up every morning and prays for one day’s worth of strength.

Our journey…one day at a time.