My blogging "debut"...

Well, it is a little bit ridiculous, but I will confess... I took over half an hour to pick a name for this blog. And in the end, I didn't even come up with my own name but stole from John Newton. I wavered between trying to be catchy, clever, serious, uber-spiritual, or making myself sound like a domestic wonder. And then I woke up, and remembered that people who actually KNOW ME might read this! Although my creativity is lacking in the name, it is descriptive of my life and thoughts on quite a few levels. First and foremost, in the context in which Newton wrote it...how sweet is the sound of the Word...of God's gracious love swooping down to set me free and claim me as His own. How sweet is the sound of my children chattering, playing and laughing. (lest you think I am trying to paint too rosey a picture, there is plenty of squabbling, too...but that is not usually a very sweet sound.) How sweet is the sound of the everyday... I hope it doesn't sound hokey, but I love the everyday sounds...the dryer running, the coffee-pot brewing, the dog stretching and groaning, the curtains flipping as the breeze comes through the window, the sound of my husband pulling into the driveway returning from work, reminding me of all the ways that the Lord provides for us. How sweet is the sound of music... I love music and especially music that stirs my heart in worship to the Lord. Which brings me around to the purpose of beginning this little adventure, which I doubt I will remember to devote much time to in any consistent manner...my reason for this blog is to share with my family & friends, both near and far, what is happening in our family's life. I hope that I don't get sidetracked from that mission and get wordy with my own thoughts ( I am off to a dubious beginning!! Hopefully in the future I will shorten it up!) One of my favorite hymns, Be Thou My Vision, has a line in it that says "Thou my best thought by day or by night". He truly is my best thought, and every other one that flits through my head once every 0.5 seconds pales in comparison to thinking on Him. My hope is that I will not use this as another avenue for myself to waste time by elaborating on my own thoughts (which is my tendency), but rather do a service to my family by creating a record of our days, the ways we are growing, and what the Lord is doing in our lives. (How's that for a long & wordy introduction!?)