The Page

I love to write.

It's almost like a necessity for me.

Hmmm . . . I could probably take out the words almost and like in that sentence.


Writing is part of who I am.


I enjoy different types of writing.  I like to write for different audiences and purposes.


I've always been a journaler.  Nowadays, I save journaling for trips, events, and big thoughts I need to sort through.  Favorite journaling memories are camping trips, my trips to El Salvador and Costa Rica and when I first became a mom.

I started keeping a daily diary in 2002.  I'd keep one off and on before that, but I wasn't consistent until 2002.  Just think -- I have every day recorded for over ten years.  Huh.

These days, I write in five diaries every night.  That is ridiculous.  But the idea came from a friend and I couldn't pass it up.  She has index cards, one for every day of the year.  On each card, she writes the year and a word or phrase to tell about the day.  As the years pass, there will eventually be 12-15 years worth on each card.  Such a cool idea!  (Check it out here!)  But I was too lazy to make all those index cards.  So I bought little diaries instead.  And I couldn't hold myself back to one word or phrase.  So there's usually a sentence or two.  And, of course, I couldn't just keep one about my day.  I wanted to keep one about each of my three kids' day.  So one for me, one for each of them, plus my regular diary for a grand total of five.  I'd like to try and discipline myself to the one word or phrase exercise.  But that would mean keeping six diaries at night.  And I just can't see myself squeezing it in.  (but I also wouldn't put it past me.)  I'm hilarious.

Sidenote: Dash calls his diary his "diarrhea"  It is the cutest thing.  "Mommy, I want to write in my diarrhea."  Ok baby, you can.


And then blogging!  Oh, I just love it.  What a fabulous medium!  I love the style, the feel, the design, the opportunity to add pictures and photos and links and such.  I love writing for an audience of people I know and people I don't know . . . for people in the neighborhood and people across the world.  It is serious fun.  It's quite different from a journal or diary, whose only audience is an older version of yourself -- or perhaps grown children or grandchildren or greats . . . those close to you who may someday pick it up and read it.  (hopefully long after it's written . . .)  Or who may throw it away.


Then there's poetry.  Poems usually pour out in times of grief or longing -- hopefulness and joy.  I've written quite a few in the days after loved ones have passed away.  However, I don't really write poems, so much as I catch them . . . words and images flood my heart until they spill out onto the page. It is a humbling and honored experience.


Sermons are humbling and honored experiences too.  Crafting a sermon is a mixture of divine listening and radiant storytelling.  It's hard to actually write a sermon down.  I think it loses something.  It has to be more of a conversation than a term paper . . . more spinning a tale than reading some words . . . it has to come deep from . . . somewhere . . .  God's own hand, perhaps?  His whisper?  It is an exhausting yet beautiful privilege to preach a sermon.  I am no expert -- I have no actual training -- but I do enjoy the process . . . and I love that moment -- that moment when you pour yourself out and you can see the Holy Spirit bobbing and weaving through the faces of those listening.  Remarkable.



It is a gift and a joy to write -- and to share -- with others.



It is a gift to share a piece of myself with you.