Do I Even Have Anything to Blog About?

 It seems like everyone is blogging these days. My daughter has a blog, my husband has a blog; even my 66 year old father is blogging. So I decided, so as not to be left behind, I would start a blog too. I mean, come on, all these people can do it...so can I! As I looked at the blank page with the cursor blinking at me, begging me to type something, I realized...I don't have anything to blog about. I guess I will start this blog telling you a little about me and how it is that I feel this need to blog.

I am a Christian. I was born into a family with a long line of faith. My grandfather was a preacher and my dad was a deacon. My mom taught Sunday school and we were in church every time the doors were open. I cannot ever remember a time God was not present in our home, but I also feel that I have always had a special connection to God since I was little. He has been a real and present force on my life always. I have not always responded to that force, but He is true to His word...He has never left me or forsaken me. 

I am a wife and an ex-wife. I have an amazing husband that loves me more than I deserve and gives me more grace than I could ever ask for. He is my best friend and closest confidant. He makes me laugh, he challenges me and he makes me crazy when he doesn't pick up his cups from a thousand places around the house. I have an ex-husband who is a good dad to the girls and makes our parenting relationship pretty easy....most of the time.

I am a 41 year old mother of two beautiful daughters and a bonus mom to 3 wonderful bonus kids. Our family is not unique in this day and age as we are a blended one. As most families who are blended we arrived here through a series of painful events that led us to a union that has its own ups and downs. Blending families is not for the faint of heart or for the faithless. One of the topics I will blog on the most will be honest reflections on a blended family. 

I am a Master's student in seminary. I am working on my Master's in Christian Counseling through seminary. It has been a long road and I am a little past the half way point. With God's grace I will one day be done!! This journey has challenged and strengthened my faith in ways I could not have imagined. Each class I take seems to have so much life application for what is going on in my own struggles. Funny how God is always getting my attention.

I have decided to write this blog because my life experience is not unique. I am all those things above, but I am just a girl (see...I still think of myself as a girl) getting through life trying to make right decisions, raise kids, keep the peace and love my husband in a way that makes him feel special all while trying to get my own needs met. I am every woman. I feel fat sometimes, I don't exercise enough, I eat bad more than I should, I yell at my kids, I yell at my husband, I have hateful thoughts about people that I actually love. I am a sinner. I am every woman. 

My goal in this blog is to be real. Women are bad about comparing themselves to others to make themselves feel better. I don't need a study to tell me this. I am a woman who does this, I see all my friends do this and I have four daughters who already do this. I want this blog to strip away my need to please and be perfect. I mess up daily, hourly sometimes and I want that to be reflected here so that if one person sees God's grace in my crazy world then He will be glorified. I am just a girl, trying to get through the life God created for me. Some days I win some and some days I lose!

Thanks for sharing my journey as I Dew life!

Shannon Dew