Well, Here Goes!

I love to write - and I've worked hard to develop my skills over many years. But I also feel like if you're going to write something and put it out there (like on the Internet) you ought to have something meaningful to say. Something that will make people glad they invested their time in the first place.

In addition to participating in member forums for people with whom I have common interests (e.g.the Yamaha Cruisers forum http://www.yamahamotorcycleforum.com/), I've been watching and gaining loads of inspiration from some of my friends who blog. I have one friend in particular who is a major/minor celebrity in the blogosphere. She blows people away with her honesty, heart, writing skills and - not to put it too bluntly, cajones. If you know me you probably know that I'm talking about @JamieTheVWM. Thanks for all the encouragement, my friend!

So I've got some level of talent, a not-too-well-defined goal, and a lot of inspiration. What to do?

For me, its easy to share about those things that drive me and make me happy. Those things that make me feel closer to my God, my family and the people all around me. I suppose I could write about all the times I get confused, hurt, angry and misdirected, but all that would do is prove that I'm human and badly in need of redemption. Going back to the axiom of respecting the time people might invest in reading my blog, I think its best to try to focus on things they didn't know already.

I expect this blog will end up being a kind of running faith story. Like the time my (non-religious) family was at the hospital, having just made the decision to discontinue my Grandfather's life support. My uncle remembered that for all of his sometimes hurtful behavior, Grandpa had become a Christian some years back and he wondered about having a chaplain come pray over him before the end. How at that moment I remembered our Pastor saying we are all ministers for Christ and how I felt led to offer to pray over him - all the while expecting them to turn me down - and how my family graciously invited me to proceed. How when I finished, I turned and saw that my dad, aunt and uncle were holding each other and praying along with me. How in the midst of a sorrowful event, the best kind of joy and love can be there for those who ask for it.

I can say this - we live in a world where miracles and blessings - both small and large, happen all the time.