The Post That Was Almost About Nothing

Is winter the death of writers? Is it just me? If you're a writer and you're cranking out page after page or post after post right now, please don't tell me how in the zone you are.

The truth is, I feel like I have nothing good or original to say. Waiting until you have the perfect thing to say is a terrible reason not to write. I know this. But I still succumb to it.

Being able to write at the same time most days is super helpful and I simply haven't had the luxury of good writing rhythm lately. Appointments and people in my house getting the flu and preparing to move my blog to Wordpress soonish--they are throwing off the steady writing days I enjoyed throughout the fall. Apparently I can only manage one creative endeavor at a time while also keeping the home fires burning. Or at least smoldering.

I don't even have a good favorite things list to share with you today. Something is surely amiss.

So let's just call this the "Seinfeld post." That is to say it's a post about nothing. Well, not nothing because there's something really amazing at the end of this post. Which means you have to wade through this post about nothing before you get to the something.

So here's what I've got:

Blog

I've been working on what may be known as the slowest blog changeover / makeover in history. I am anything but speedy and decisive. Apparently. Sometimes we don't realize these things about ourselves until we're knee-deep in colors and fonts and placement and social media icons.

This is why I will never ever be able to build a house or handle a restaurant menu longer than one page or have any more children who require naming. Decision-Making Anxiety. It's a real thing. It has to be.

My fairy blogmother {shout-out to Kindel} is a saint for putting up with me and the snail's pace with which I am working. It's taken me many, many months to land on a name...which, as you will eventually see, is not at all original. And this unoriginal blog name is still waiting on a tagline. I'm totally open to suggestions. What describes what I write about in this space? Who am I? What is the meaning of life? I have made list after list and still, I'm coming up short. Please feel free to dish about all of this in the comments. I need help.


Books

I haven't been reading as much this winter either but I am slowly making my way through an autobiography of Wetherall A. Johnson, the founder of Bible Study Fellowship. She was an adventurous, amusing, Jesus-loving, British woman who spent much of her life as a missionary to China. Also, the cover of the book is a bit Mrs. Doubtfire-esque and this makes me giggle. I'm just saying. 

I'm not normally one for missionary stories, which probably means I'm a sub-par Christian at best. I think it's because I often can't relate or I end up feeling guilty or I'm judgmental concerning the methods or motivations of others. 

Or it could be because of my unnatural childhood phobia of missionaries. It's true. Every time a missionary came to our church, I was terrified that God would call me to a forsaken African tribe and I'd be forced to wear sad, outdated, castoff clothes that charitable Americans boxed up and mailed across the ocean. I felt no affection toward the visiting missionaries and their display tables of tribal masks and woolen blankets. I was, in fact, afraid of them. 

Thankfully and ironically, I've come around to the idea of being a missionary. I've even wished to be one but for all the wrong reasons: escaping the pitfalls of American culture, traveling the world, learning a new language, decorating my home with artful pottery and the aforementioned woolen blankets. I can't believe I've just said all of this out loud. Who am I kidding, I'd be the most selfish missionary ever. Clearly, I need someone to be a missionary to me. {must. stop. typing.}

Anyway, I am enjoying this book. Ms. Johnson was, in many ways, a reluctant convert to many of her beliefs and endeavors. I'm a fan of reluctant converts because I'm sort of one of those myself. She's the kind of person I'd liked to have known in real life. In some ways, I was a reluctant convert to BSF but it has been such a needful part of my life this year and I was curious to know the story behind it.


Bloggers {cue the part of this post that's really worth reading}

The first two blogs I ever started reading were The Nesting Place and Chatting at the Sky. Now many years later, Myquillyn Smith and Emily Freeman are still two of my favorite girls on the internet and in real life.

Right now they're in Uganda to raise awareness and support for Compassion International. Their goal is to match 400 Uganda children with sponsors. Maybe you're hesistant to read their posts. Maybe you don't feel like being sad right now. Maybe you're not in the mood to be confronted with poverty. Maybe you know you can't currently sponsor a child so why bother even reading. I get it. 

Just read anyway? Please. Myquillyn and Emily are wives and moms just like me and maybe like you too. They care about cute shoes and finding the right paint color for their walls. They work from home and live middle-class lives and drink Starbucks. They're not traditional missionaries or celebrity humanitarians.

They're just normal women like us but they said yes to traveling to Uganda because there are some stories we need to hear. And in sharing these stories and sharing ways we can save a future for these kids, we're saved in a way too. This I know. And because of that, I want to share what they're doing with you. It'll just take a few minutes and these will be the best two clicks of your day. I promise.

Emily's first post from Uganda. Choosing the One You Least Expect. {You are not going to believe this story.}

The Nester's first post from Uganda. Grace. At Home.

And if you love these posts like I do, their second posts from Uganda are up now too.  

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