For many years now, I have been thinking about telling my story. Why is my story worth telling? Why is anyone's story worth telling?
Perhaps by providing shared experience, I can give encouragement to someone else who is going through the tribulations I have already faced. Perhaps I just want to extract some sense of justice. Perhaps I am a closet exhibitionist, and I can't resist the temptation of laying myself bare online, for all the world to see. Sort of an emperor without her clothes, metaphorically speaking. Or maybe I am just a writer, and my life is the only thing I really know, so that is what I will write about.
Whatever the impetus, here I am, writing for the world, instead of just my own journal. It is a frightening experience, almost like laying your soul bare for other people to rummage through. But I don't think you are a real writer if you never allow the world to see your finished product. (It seems rather presumptuous to call one's own writing work, although it surely is. And it seems even more presumptuous to assume anyone will read it, even if it is out there in the nebulous blogosphere.) So I throw my offering out there, like so much dandelion detritus. Do with it what you will.
The title of my blog is the title of the book I will one day write about my life. Although I am certainly not famous or important, and I definitely am not rich, much to my teenaged daughter's chagrin, I have led a pretty interesting life. I can't imagine what purpose God has in giving me all these travails, if not to encourage or to inspire others that they are not alone on this frustrating globe. So that is the goal of this blog. If nothing else, I truly hope that somewhere along the line, someone in need will read this insignificant matter of my life, and know that they too, matter.
So, without further ado, I dedicate this blog, first and foremost, to all those people who are struggling to make sense of the senseless happenings in their lives. If you can find faith and a reason to go forward from my ramblings, I will have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.
But I cannot end this forward without a small dedication to the ones who made it all possible. Without your rather important part in the debacle of my life, I would never have been able to write this story. So really, in the end, I owe it all to you. So Tom and Paula, this blog's for you....
