autumn living

I love writing. I have been a passionate writer since I was was 7 or 8, when I started keeping a daily prayer diary. Those precious simple words, printed out my young hands are a treat to read, along with the simple illustrations painstakingly drawn. 

About the time I turned 21 and moved back from Indiana, the Internet had happened, and I turned to the pages of an online blog, first on Livejornal and then MySpace. And so it goes.

Now I have two blogs. One is private, the other public here where I write about what I deem encouraging or uplifting. I always get a writer's boon each fall season. I don't know whether it has to do with autumn being my favorite season, or whether it is refreshing after our wilting Florida summers, and I am seeking to reinvent more than the sweltering weather and my burnt-out garden. I enjoy the renewal, the cathartic release of thoughts and hopes and plans.

Here's to a blessed and restful autumn season. There's a lot going on, but I am going to endeavor to snatch moments for soul Sabbath. It's been a particularly difficult year, full of changes and issues that I can't reveal (as they relate to the workings and running of the school), and I am needing the peace. Shalom to all!

2013 Reminisces, Part 1

It's been a while since I have blogged. A long while. My hiatus can be explained by a determination in late 2012 to spend more time in the Divine Word and less time spinning words of my own.

In the spirit of thinking about the old year disappearing and the new year coming up, I am setting some new goals for 2014. One of those is to begin blogging again, at least one post per month. So that may mean twelve posts, or perhaps more. Who knows...2014 awaits!

Looking back on 2013 over the next several days, I intend to list the adventures that we had, the pain that enlarged in our hearts, and the healing that took place.

Reading  for the Year
I read quite a few online articles coming form a wide variety of sources. I especially enjoyed some brilliant repartee in the form of a theological battle between two current Church leaders over the Charismatic movement in the US. Dr. Michal Brown waxed eloquent and pontificated a rebuttal to John MacArthur's denouncement of the movement and its contributions as a whole: Authentic Fire vs. Strange Fire: It's Not About Winning an Argument

I learned more than I ever had before about the baptism of the Holy Spirit while doing research for a Bible class. And this article by Bill Hamon further explained some things that Derek Prince's informative book did not: Why Speaking in Tongues Matters

The books I read and enjoyed mostly included books required for uni research. This summer I read Brennan Manning's The Furious Longing of God. Intense stuff right there.

And then came Trim Healthy Mama. I bought that book in February at a Nancy Campbell Above Rubies ladies retreat but didn't start reading it until July. Six hundred pages of scientific diet advice and recipes. God immediately started dealing with an area of sin that has largely been unaddressed for many years in my life: gluttony. It's been a lifechanging journey so far, and I have documented it in pictures on Facebook along the way. Since August I have lost thirty-five pounds; thank You, Jesus!

To be continued... ;-)

Backtracking

I have felt for some time now that I should start a public blog, one that does not reveal the deepest of my heart struggles for reasons I will keep to myslef. I will keep my private journal blog for those sorts of posts. So this is the beginning of the new public MaryBeeBzz, available to be read by all my friends and family. Yay!!! :-D

I love writing and blogging and have often wished that others could read what I write and be blessed and encouraged by it. I wrote for Kindred Spirits and HopeChest magazines for many years and have kept a private journal since I was eight. Eventually my journal writing gave way to blogging, first on LifeJournal, then Xanga, MySpace, and now Blogger for the last several years. Writing is cathartic for me. It helps me to clear my head. It helps me to heal. It helps me to explain. It helps me to figure things out.

I will try to figure out how to transfer all the appropriate blogs from the past few years here. THAT should be fun.