Through facebook, I have been able to reconnect to a friend, Michelle, I met in Chicago over 10 years ago.  When she commented on my blog, lo and behold, I realized she had a blog.  People blog for different reasons.  I so appreciate all of you who read my blog, when you comment it makes me smile;  but I have to tell you, I didn't start blogging for all of you.  I started blogging for purely selfish reasons.  I am a journaler at heart, but I was getting frustrated with the lack of time I had to journal.  For some reason, when journaling I need stillness, solitude, and perhaps a warm cup of tea.  Those moments become few and far between when you have more than one child.  I found blogging must use a different part of my brain- for I can type my thoughts with a baby on my lap and two others fighting in the background.  Granted, if you've read my blog even once, you'll find evidence of distraction in my frequent grammatical slips or typographical errors....still, imperfect as it is, it is a record of my thoughts, of our families memories.  

I can't tell you why my friend Michelle blogs, but I want to encourage you to read her blog.  I know she didn't start out blogging for me, but her blog has become a highlight of my day.  She strikes a perfect blend between humorously writing about the mundane and then throwing in the gut wrenching, can't help but cry kind of post.

I was in a small group with Michelle for a very short time.  She was experiencing a brief stint in Chicago, working in Marketing at Einsteins Bagels,and we were fortunate enough to have her in our group for that time.  Reading her blog has reminded me why I always liked her and why now I wish she lived a little closer. She is hysterical and yet deep.  She was in our first small group, actually.  Both Marc and I had been in Chicago less than a year.  It was on the floor sitting in a circle of girls that I began blubbering and crying during prayer time.  We'd just gotten engaged and the time we thought would be joyful was clouded by Marc's parents outrage.  They said he had to chose between a relationship with them and me.  It was a shockingly painful time.  The first time in my life I felt completely bulldozed by pain that was being inflicted by absolutely no wrongdoing of my own.  Those girls really blessed me that night.  Michelle had a unique blend of witty humor and heart.  She blessed me then and her blog is blessing me now.

Head on over and check her out...she's pretty cool!