My whole life long, some have called me Liz, some Elizabeth, and some endearing loved ones, the ever winsome Lizzie.  Some knew me first as the girl from Missouri (what up, Raytown?!), some as the Kansas Jayhawk super fan, and some as the adopted Austinite where, over the course of ten years, I started saying things like “all y’all” when addressing my children, accessorizing, and engaging in the truly southern art of long and leisurely dinners with friends.  Oh yeah Midwest, it’s a thing, and we are missing out.

I love all my names and embrace all my places, for they paint a picture of a girl who can’t quite be defined, and a woman unwilling to be pinned down by experience.

So why a blog?  Well…

I’ve stacks of journals going all the way back to junior high, most filled with angsty things like guy crushes gone awry (and there were many) and big dreams now abandoned.  But as I grew and life got real, my writing turned reflective, prayerful even, and sometimes, when I least expected, insights gained from journeys forged through rough terrain, flowed from heart to hand. I found myself wanting to share what had been hard won, because that’s what we humans do. We share.

So I bought a computer. Yes, a conscious relinquishing of pen and paper was the next step in my development as a writer.  #ILikeTheOldenDays                       #NoI’mNotOnTwitter

At first, only the tightest circles of trust were allowed to read, but then, as I became a little less consumed with my own frailty, something beautiful happened and people I never imagined as leisurely readers, let alone “personal experience” types, were moved.  They told me so.  And now I’m on the hook. Challenged. Encouraged. A little bit scared. (But isn’t that kinda the point, I ask myself?)

So this is my attempt to dare to do what I feel most alive doing…sharing parts of me with you, in what I hope is something honest, something worth your time, something that no matter how different our experiences might be – in life, in love, in God – our shared humanity shines through.

That’s why I’m blogging (and if you must know, why I’m face-booking too). It’s all about the share.

 I look forward to this sweet exchange with you.