When the words disappear, the foundation remains...

A week or so ago, late one night my blog disappeared from cyberspace.  Seven years of words vanished just like that.

Instantly, I thought it must be my fault.  The renewal for my domain had come due recently and I thought that I must have made some sort of mistake and the renewal hadn't gone through.  A little more research showed that other bloggers all over the world using the same blog hosting site as me were also experiencing the same thing.  With that knowledge, I was able to turn off the computer and go to sleep, knowing that things were beyond my control to work out.  Happily, things were back to normal when I woke up the next day.

In looking back on that event, several things stood out to me.  The first one is obvious.  Back up your blog to your computer frequently!  The second one was that, while I was sad that there was a possibility that seven years of writing had disappeared, I also knew that all the hours of writing would still have been worth it for the work the words had done in me as I wrote them.  Through the writing process I am also processing my own experiences, my own memories, my own spiritual insights and relationship to God and His Word.  While my desire is to record these thoughts not just for myself but also for my loved ones and friends and others that find encouragement here, in the writing I've found myself inevitably coming back to the foundational truths that I've built my life on.  Here are a few of those foundation stones.

 -There is a God in heaven Who created me and loves me and Who really is in control even if things around me don't feel like He is.  Through writing I've looked backwards at major life events and seen the constant weaving of God's good plan for my life in events that, at the time I was going through them, seemed confusing and overwhelming.

-Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one can come to the Father except through Him.  Jesus Himself spoke these words, so either they are true or He is a fraud and a liar.  Through my writing I wrestle through things I've been taught and believed all my life.  I wrestle with cultural shifts that have caused us to move away from absolutes.  I come away knowing what I believe and Who I believe.  Believing that the Bible is the inspired inerrant Word of God is another foundational truth that I've become more anchored in and sure of.

-Relationships and people are what counts.  On my blog I love to share recipes, creative projects and home decor besides my writing posts. Being a lover of beauty, a lover of home and homemaking, a lover of cooking and creating is a part of who I am and so my blog reflects that.  In the end, however, it's my relationship with God, my relationship with my family, my relationship with friends, and the relationships with others that I've "met" through this online space that really matter in light of eternity.

In the end, if all of the words I've written disappeared for good, my foundation still stands, and that's a reassuring thing to know.

still following,

  

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