It’s been a while…

This won’t be my first rodeo. I’ve been here, done this, and got the T-shirt.

This isn’t my first blog. But hopefully it will be my last and most lasting.

My first was an account with a company called Xanga when I was a freshman in college. Some of the other girls on the Honors floor where I lived at the University of Missouri had one, and it followed that of course I should join in the fun.

After all, my life was SO incredibly interesting as a homesick, lovesick freshman.

My posts were usually of the venting sort. I remember rushing back to my room after the Tigers men’s basketball team lost one night in triple overtime, determined to sort out my feelings on my blog. Everyone who followed me, all three of my friends, just had to know how disgusted I was.

I can get pretty emotional about a sporting event. I try not to let that monster out very often, though.

After I graduated from Mizzou with a journalism degree, Xanga didn’t seem to be the thing to do anymore. Plus, I wanted something more avant garde, so I started a blog through Blogger and posted 34 times in two years. I was lukewarm about it. It eventually turned into bit of a venting mechanism, as well.

Then I started to get crafty and wanted to share my creativity with the world. So I started a craft blog. I loved it. Truly. And then I hated it. The effort to produce beautiful crafties was overwhelming. I’d always forget to photograph a step of the process or run out of time to actually post the photos and instructions, resulting in one large posting dump once a month. A post about a paper wreath I made did go semi-viral. That was fun. But that blog, too, died a slow death.

Working as a sports writer for The Paducah Sun allowed me to start yet another blog. It was about sports, and I called it “And One” after the term for the play in basketball  (meaning the extra shot you’re awarded upon being the beneficiary of a foul call on a made basket). I enjoyed it for a while, but blogs weren’t my newspaper’s priority. I had to have it looked over and approved every time I posted something. That got real old real quick.

So for a few years now, I’ve been managing my thoughts, feelings and ramblings through social media, including through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Each medium has its own special place in my social-media-addicted heart. But now that I’m no longer a reporter (I’ve been out of the biz for 2.5 years at this point), I don’t have the same creative outlet I once had.

My fingers itch. I’m ready to grow.

My life has changed dramatically in the last three years. I transitioned out of sports writing into a career in ministry. I’m presently the youth director at New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Paducah, Ky. I also work part time at the McCracken County Public Library.

I got a divorce in June. In January, I entered the Master of Divinity program at Memphis Theological Seminary. It’s been a tumultuous journey that God’s been at the helm of the whole time.

I’ll try to post inspirational pieces. Maybe some theological or social issues I’m struggling with. Encouragement. Links to other really cool writers. Sunset photos (I’m currently obsessed). Maybe some photos of my cat (I’m obsessed with him, too). Books I’m reading. Lessons I’m teaching. Lessons I’m learning.

While this won’t be my first blog, it will be my first blog with expectation attached to it. I bought my very own domain name this time, so now I have financial incentive to make this work.

It’s got to be like riding a bike, right? This isn’t something you’re supposed to forget, although navigating web design isn’t my best skill. (For what it’s worth, I have already called GoDaddy’s tech support. I highly recommend the company after my experience).

So check back in once in a while. I’ll try to make it worth your time.

– Dusty