Sharing the journey

I love blogs.  As fun as it can be to have a blog...the best thing is being able to participate in other people's lives through their blogs.

I got started in the world of blogging a few years ago after my 10 year high school reunion when one of my classmates led me to her blog and encouraged me to start my own.  Since then my world has expanded so much.  I have people in my life whose hearts & lives I feel more connected to than most of the people I know in real life because they have chosen to blog.  My awareness has spread in a very personal way because of their blogs.  Many of the bloggers I "know" best and have been most impacted by were so-called "mommy bloggers" who led "normal" lives like mine when I started to follow them but have since been changed by unforeseen movements in their lives and as a result have reached into my life and allowed me to get a taste of something different.

Because of the blogs of people like Tiffany & Lara, I have traveled to Africa on life-altering adoption journeys and have developed a soft spot for adoption.  I have been introduced to the ins & outs of the international adoption process, the joys & pains of making a former orphan a member of a loving family, and the sudden change in worldview that can occur when visiting less fortunate countries of the world.

Because of blogs like Ramee's and Becca's, I have been allowed to peak into a life that exists in my fears of having a child with great physical challenges.  Reading their blogs and others like them, I have a rare opportunity to feel for a moment what that mom feels and, through her journey, find a peace in knowing that if her situation became mine, I too could find a way to deal with it beautifully and with grace & strength through Christ.  Sharing in their journeys gives me perspective and humbles my mother heart.  It also personalizes the causes that I see promoted around me and softens me to care.

Through C. Beth Blog, I get to experience a bit of the gift of surrogacy.  Through From Chaos to Grace, I get a glimpse of life as a foster parent.

Because of blogging, I had the chance to watch a couple struggle with their marriage and reunite, I have mourned with a recent divorcee who then struggled through her ex's suicide.  I get to participate in the work of people in the mission field.  I learn how other people have chosen to live more frugal lives.  The things I get to witness through the blogging community are amazing.

I am so grateful for people willing to open their hearts & minds & lives with the world through blogging.  It is a risk.  It can be hard being vulnerable with people who can rake your soul across the coals with one anonymous comment.  But I am so grateful,  because their willingness to share has enriched my life and has served to prepare me for whatever the future of my journey may hold.  Right now my life is pretty "normal" but one of these days God may decide to take me in an unexpected direction like He did with so many of these bloggers and when He does, I know that I will be a little more equipped because these woman shared their journey with me.