The Lord Made Me Do It

I'm only doing this because the Lord told me to, and for no other reason.  Starting another blog, that is.  Several years ago I did have a blog, but in the interest of transparency, my motives were way off.  The main purpose was to prove to my family and friends that homeschoolers were intelligent, socialized people who spend their days doing exhilarating activities, and don't you wish you had thought of all the cute ideas I posted?  As positive comments began to roll in, my head began to swell, and pretty soon I had to put on my mask and feign perfection.  Isn't everything we post in cyberspace about ourselves, after all, neatly groomed and sterling?  Keeping up an image got old quick, and the joy flew right out with my desire to continue the posts.  Where was the real me in all of that?

The trouble with blogs is that any nincompoop can have one.  You may follow this one and decide that I rank right up there with them.  My desire is to be the real me: what you see is what you get.  Before you imagine me snapping my fingers as I say that, know that what you get is a broken wretch saved by the blood of Christ.  I am a longtime mask wearer slowly exposing my real face.  That face is recognizing its stamp of Christ's image, the stamp He has placed on each countenance, all of which He calls beautiful.  I am wrecked by the world's ugliness and grateful that a rugged cross makes it lovely.  I have gaping wounds that are slowly healing through the deliciously harrowing process called sanctification.  He is healing me to love Him with my whole heart.  I know firsthand the vile attacks that come from the Father of Lies, and am learning what it means to resist him.  I am longing for my true home, for The Good Shepherd to make the crooked places straight.

So this time, it's different.  The Lord told me to, so I will.  He told me to be me, wounds and all.  He told me that we all are broken in this topsy-turvy world, and we need each other.  We need to be genuine, the ones who God created us to be, not mask-wearers.  Some days I will share my testimony, and the posts will be weighty.  Others may pertain to homeschooling, specifically material that can encourage all parents, not just home educators.  And still others may be about funny stories, or even hobbies I enjoy.  Life is like that...our brains have ideas spilling one into the next, and again, I said I wanted to be the real me.

The title of this blog is inspired by what motivates me, and that's bringing darkness into light.  Our culture has allowed common sense to slowly slip away and be replaced by reckoning contrary to God's design.  Paul firmly states in Romans 13:12,
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light."  Yes, let's do just that.