Dreaming & Growing

I've never been much of a dreamer. Until lately. And now my head is swimming with thoughts that I'm afraid, too tired, or uncertain how to put into action. So I'm starting over, calling a "do-over" if you will, because I want to grow, to be fruitful, and productive in this brief life I've been given. For Him. For His glory.

I want to share with you a little about my story: who I am, why I blog here, and what I hope to achieve at Growing in His Glory. You may or may not be interested, but I feel compelled to share nonetheless.

Who I am

My name is Keri, and I'm a 33-year-old stay-at-home mom and part-time freelance writer. I've been married to my best friend, Daniel, for almost 6 years, and we have three precious girls ages 4, 2, & 9 months. 

Like you, I'm busy. Between carting the older two kids to Mother's Day Out twice a week, participating in two different Bible studies, ballet, church, somewhat regular trips to the Y, and all the household demands, I'm rarely idle. When I am sitting still, I love a hot cup of coffee (2 creams + 1 sugar, please) and a good mystery novel. 

But I like to be busy. The one thing I strive for above all else is GROWTH. Maybe that has to do with my height (I'm 5'11) but probably not. I am always working on some aspect of my life and often multiple areas at once. This year my husband and I are training for our first ever 5K race, and I'm already thinking about a half-marathon :)

That leads me to...

Why I Blog

Besides my my desire for community, I feel called by the Lord to encourage, minister to, and motivate other women to grow in their God-given roles through my writing. Hence the name of my blog: "Growing in His Glory." 

In order to become the wife, mother, daughter of God, homemaker, and teacher God has called me to be, I must surrender everything to the Father. That means committing every aspect of my life to glorifying Him.

"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

I Corinthians 10:31

 As I grow closer to the Lord, I fall at times. Other times I succeed. Sometimes pride gets the better of me, and the Lord humbles me. All in all, though, I am growing. I want to share with you the ways in which the Lord is growing me in each area of my life.

What I Hope to Achieve

My aim here at Growing in His Glory is to encourage you, the reader, in your own unique walks. I strive to do that through God's Word and my own unique experiences and lessons learned. Along the way, I will share what's working for me and what's not, what I'm reading, great online sources including products I love, and helpful tips I pick up here and there (sometimes from you!).

Whether you're a mom, a grandma, divorced, newlywed, child-less, or overflowing with offspring, I want you to feel welcome to share your struggles and dreams as I share mine with you. We have so much to learn from each other.

We have all been called to a purpose greater than ourselves. Whatever that purpose is, I hope you will come grow with me. 

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Why I Blog...

On my About Me page, you can read a little bit about who I am and why I started this blog. But with all the goals we are setting as a family and myself this new year, I've been thinking a lot about why I blog.

There are many reasons why I continue to write here:

• As a creative outlet
• To hone my communication skills
• To stay in the Word 
• To hold myself accountable for my plans, dreams, & goals
• To rant, rave, and vent: Writing is cathartic!

But perhaps the main reason why I blog is this: 

To Grow

More than anything my desire is to become more Christ like each day, to be self-sacrificing, peaceable, gentle, meek, and humble, to love like Jesus did, to be the very best wife, mother, and child of God that I can be in the short time I'm given here on earth.

But in order to grow in God's glory, I need something more than myself: I need community.

Like many writers, I'm a loner by nature. I like to have a few close friends who I meet up with on occasion, but other than that I have little time or desire for a social life. I simply prefer to be at home. 

Still, I not only need community, I crave it. Why?

Because only in community do we truly grow.

As much as I prefer my comfort zone with its cushy pillows and familiar noises and smells, I desire to grow far more.

In her amazing book Everything: What You Give & What You Gain to Become Like Jesus, Mary DeMuth writes: 

"Profound growth happens in the context of community" (153).

...we never grow in a vacuum, away from people. We grow when we risk in relationships" (171).

Without community--whether fellow bloggers, a handful of Godly friends, a Bible study group, or a small group at church--we won't grow.

Without community, we have no one to share our struggles with, no one to hold us accountable when we want to give up, no one with whom to practice all the skills we're learning on our own.

Without community, we stagnate. We may do some really great stuff by ourselves, but who benefits from it? Myself? Maybe. But who else? No one.

 

We need community--friends, family, acquaintances--to throw out a lifeline to us when we're sinking, when we're doing all we can simply to stay afloat. 

We need community to share our stories with, to be real with, to connect us to something bigger than ourselves.

We need community to spur us on when we're beat down, run over, and bone tired. 

Paul wrote: 

"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."

1 Thessalonians 5:11

As a Christian, I have a duty to edify other believers. If I want to grow as a follower of Jesus, then I have to participate in community--like it or not.

I don't blog for fame or great fortune; I blog because I desire to grow. And in order to grow God-ward, I need you. I need the love, support, and encouragement of other wives, mothers, and women who are walking the same road, who have been there or are there with me now, and who can cheer me on along the way. 

Community

It's why I blog. 


What about you? Do you have a community of your own? If so, what does it look like?

If you're looking for an online community where you can grow by being encouraged, uplifted, and cheered on, might I invite you to join me here?

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Blessings to you,

Linking up with:  The Better Mom, Raising Arrows, Time-Warp Wife, Teach Me Tuesdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Leaving a Legacy, Women Living Well Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers, Cozy Book Hop, Raising Mighty Arrows