Hi there.

Welcome.

Greetings.

Oh. You probably came here to read something. Real words, huh?

Is there anything more intimidating than the blankness of a new blog? I decided to start afresh because though I have many happy memories from my days over at annasjoyblog.blogspot.com, I’ve turned so many pages since then, I don’t think I’m even in the same book anymore!

So I start over. I’ve got some things I’m really excited to tell you about. I want to share about how life is over here in the Middle East, about my son and his ever-amazing big sister (who got a lot of air time on my previous blog). I’m going to ruminate about marriage, since we’re coming up on 10 years in a few months, and handing out some fashion tips (<—– I will actually not be doing this. Asking for them, that’s what I’ll do.).

Most immediately, I’ll be posting about our trip to Abide Family Center in Uganda, where we’re headed in just a few days. My friend, Megan, and her friend, Kelsey, founded Abide to address the orphan crisis and keep children where they belong, in families. In the 18 months they’ve been open, 76 families have been served with 268 children getting to stay in their families, instead of being placed in orphanages. History is being made there and I can not wait to go be a part of it!

Following that, I have the great honor to help introduce you to Jen Hatmaker’s newest book, “For the Love: Fighting For Grace in a World of Impossible Standards.” I was selected to be one of 500 (out of 5000 applicants!) on her launch team. For this and many other reasons, I want it to be August now, but it’ll be here soon enough.

Before I close this first page on this new venture, I’ll say the first of many thank yous. Thank you for the minutes of your day you’ve given me. As a mom of two littles, struggling to find margin in an increasingly saturated on-line world, I see every minute you spend reading a word I wrote as a grace and I am thankful for you.