beWARM

After my tears subsided at the visualization of beWARM (which took most of the day, I might add), then came the realization that a “blog” is an action verb as well as a noun!  This new accountability initially stopped me in my tracks. “Where will I find the words?”  “Do I even have anything worth saying?” In the day(and night!) that followed, a word salad tornado tossed around in my brain.  Random phrases whirled, and dormant archives creaked open.  I continued my pleas for Direction…

I thank you so much, dear family and friends, for your enouraging thoughts and the prayers I requested.  The words arrived this morning, as I was reading The Praying Life by Deborah Smith Douglas, preparing for a day of retreat with her next Saturday.  My friend Mary Jane prayed that I “feel the Holy Spirit blowing warm winds”. Well…your collective prayers brought in a 60mph gale force wind!!!  I started writing down ideas, scribbling them furiously onto a blank page in  Deborah’s book.  When I finally stopped to take stock, there were over 33 possible topics!  Staring at that lengthy list,  I realize that my next task is to discern what comes first.

 Until then…

Most of you who know me may not know that I am a slow starter about some things.  I tend to let ideas “incubate”, sometimes interminably!  So it goes with a vision I had about 8 years ago.  I had just finished listening to a radio interview of a Christian author who wrote a book about celebrating women in midlife ( alas, here I am!).  Her main points were 1. Enjoy and celebrate the wisdom of your years rather than bemoaning the loss of youth, 2. Though finding new creative and intellectual outlets are important, focusing on and strengthening the relationship with your spouse is of the highest priority now, and 3. Never underestimate the value of being a mentor to younger women. Lamentably, I never got the name of the author or her book title!  After this, I had a remarkable experience unlike any other before.  As I relaxed during a massage, I actually “saw” these words in my mind – beWARM…Women Actively Reaching for More…Spirituality..Support…Serenity.    I was blown away!  My only conclusion was that this was a message from God.  My question was, what to do with it?  After much prayer, and conversations with trusted friends, I concluded that, at the very least, this was how God wanted me to live my life, and that I should surround myself with other women with similar outlooks.  At the time I thought about creating a website, not having a clue how to go about that – but it just didn’t feel right. So…I have spent these past years striving to “reach for more” in my relationship with God, doing much reading, praying, and conversing with other women about their faith journeys.  My awareness of God’s presence in all things has brought me joy, comfort, and inspiration.

So how did I get to this moment?  My three beautiful daughters, Emily, Kristy, and Abby, have been supportive of this vision from day one – and this blog site is their gift to me for my 60th birthday! Kristy just happens to be a talented graphic designer; I had asked her some time ago if she could help me articulate a vision for bewarm – but I had no idea it would come to this! (and to think there were many years when my daughters weren’t always receptive to what I had to say!)  My amazing husband Joey has also been a tremendous support of being WARM, and of my spiritual growth;  for that, and his love, I am so grateful.  My family is one of my most treasured gifts! I have no idea of where all of this might lead – or even what I am going to write about – but I trust that God has a purpose for this, and I am praying that the Holy Spirit will help me with some thoughts…   I would welcome you as fellow travelers on the journey…

Dear Mom,

You’ve reached an amazing stage in your life, one that I see as a new beginning, or more of a time to “fertilize” all the seeds you’ve planted in the last 30+ years.  Your spiritual life has grown exponentially in the last five years and we all think you have so much to share with the world and your community.  I thought a blog would be the perfect way to start “reaching” your peers and the world itself – you can use this as a platform to voice your everyday thoughts, write interpretations of bible passages, recount stories from y0ur trips abroad, network/share with your women’s group, and basically record anything you’d like to share with the world that is “on your heart.”

Speaking of hearts, yours is immense and beautiful and shines on everyone you meet – and Emily, Abs and I think the rest of the world is ready for it, too.

We love you!  You and Dad are at such an exciting turning point in your lives.  Enjoy every moment of this new chapter.  (Oh and call me so I can walk you through this – it is really very easy, I promise!!!)  One more thing – the colors are probably “not it” yet – so we can adjust both the design and colors so it is perfect for you!

And this will be deleted when you start blogging – you will “edit” to create the first entry yourself!!!!  :):)

xoxo  K