What I Promise to Do For You

When I got the first email alerting me to a completed survey, I danced a jig in the kitchen. As more and more came in, I was delighted that so many participated. You have given me much to chew on the past few days. The responses are captivating and oh so telling as to what is going on in the lives of women everywhere.

After compiling and contemplating the answers to the survey, here is what I learned about what you seek, what you struggle with, and what you hope I can do for you.

What You Seek  

Reading about what you yearn for resonated with me! Based on your responses, here are the things I believe you crave:

• A vibrant, living faith. 
• A sense that someone else gets you.  
• God's truth applied to your life.
• A good laugh. And a good cry. 
• Feeling like you are the wife, mother, woman Christ desires you to be.
• A word from God. 

What You Struggle With

No matter how things look on the outside, we all struggle with something. And some of us are struggling with many somethings. How many of these are all too familiar to you?

• Trying to balance it all. 
• Feeling alone, left out.
• Struggling to trust God with every little thing.
• Raising children.
• Strained relationships with husband and friends.
• Wanting a deeper faith, more quality time with God.
• Dealing with anxiety over how God and others view you.  
• Worry. Fear. Grief.
• Discovering your place in God's plan.
• Stress concerning job, finances.
• Accepting imperfections and inadequacies. 

What You Want From Me 

Let's be honest. There are about 10,000 things you feel pulling at you during any given day. So why dedicate any of it to reading a blog written by an obscure woman with too many words to use? Clearly, there must be something in it for you. (Or you're my family and I make you proof it.) Quite frankly, I think what you want from me and this blog is directly related to what you crave. What we all crave. This is what I believe you are looking for when you visit my blog:

• Someone to help you feel a little less crazy and alone by being real and transparent. Nitty gritty truthfulness.
• Words that point you to Christ and His word.
• Divine insight in the midst of the every day.
• Real life stories so you can relate, connect, and experience the "I get you" factor. 
• A laugh. And a cry!
• Inspiration to live your faith fully.

Can I share something with you? Reading the responses to this survey may have been one of the most affirming experiences of my life. Why? Because what you want from me, I can give to you. Ya'll, I am WIRED to share about what is going on in my life. Can't help but talk about what God is teaching me. Love nothing more than convincing people they should follow Christ with crazy abandon. It is what makes me tick. It's like breathing for me. 

But along with that, hear this confession: Many of you listed words like "inspiration, encouragement, and Godly insight" as reasons you visit my blog and what you hope to get when you come here. This causes no small amount of anxiety and there may be some shallowness of breath, too. I've chewed on it for days, constantly asking myself this question, "Can I handle the weight of that expectation?!" 

And this is what I concluded:

Nope. There's just no way I can promise that every time you visit this blog you'll be inspired. Encouraged. Motivated. Receive Godly insight. I know me. And I'm just too human. 

But this is what I can promise you. 

1. I promise to write with abandon telling you the real, honest, and often embarrassing truth about my life and what God is teaching me. 
2. I promise to point you to Christ every chance I get. What He reveals to me, I will pass on to you.
3. I promise to be both funny and sad so that you have plenty of opportunities to embarrass yourself while reading this blog in the presence of others.
4. I promise to shoot straight with you. I will not sugar coat or pretty up the hard truths He asks me to type. 
5. I promise to share what I've learned about developing a deep and vibrant faith in the midst of a messy and imperfect life. Any spiritual nugget of truth I posses is yours too. 
6. I promise to take you with me on this outlandish adventure He has me on and will push you to live yours too. Faith without fences, dear hearts. 

I take this so seriously that I am choking back tears. (I'm in a coffee shop or I would probably just give in and sob.) I'm humbled by your trust in me, your willingness to spend time listening to me. 

And your incredible desire to hear from God sends me running to Him all the more.  Thank you for that! Because there is nothing I want more.