Why I Blog

This past weekend we took a trip to Pittsburgh to see Trevor's Aunt Sherry. While we were there she got out the old family photos that she found when she was cleaning out Grandpa's house. You can see one of the photos of Great Grandpa Peterson over here on Trevor's blog. Ian shares a strong resemblance to his Great-Great Grandpa Peterson. :o)

As we were looking through the photos Sherry mentioned that she liked it when Grandma put names and dates on the photos. It's definitely a huge help! There was one photo that stood out in particular and as far as I can remember it was the only one that actually had some "journaling" on it (writing other than names and date). It was a picture of Grandpa and Grandma Peterson (Ward and Ella) and they were making out on a couch! My goodness - it was risque (especially for that time)! The caption read "Ward and I the night we returned from our honeymoon!" I'm glad she wrote that on the photo because you honestly couldn't tell who Grandpa was kissing. That picture and caption spoke a million words. Grandpa and Grandma were always deeply in love. Grandpa was never the same after Grandma died. It's strange to see your grandparents when they're young and in love like that, but it's also so lovely.

This whole experience reminded me why I blog. Last year I did a study with 4 dear women on a book entitled To Be Told (I could write a whole separate post about the impact that this group of women has had on my life over the last several years - maybe I will some day.) This study showed me the importance of telling the stories of my life and how God uses those stories to glorify Himself. So, last year I began to write out my stories for the first time. It was a sometimes joyful, sometimes sad journey of putting pen to paper (or in my case fingers to keyboard).

That study somehow led me to create this blog. I don't know if I'll ever put the stories that I wrote for that study here - probably not. This blog is more to record the everyday, mundane, humorous bits of life. I want my kids and maybe even my grandkids to be able to look back and see pictures of themselves and their family and friends throughout the years with little stories to go along with them. I want them to know what everyday life was like. I want them to see the pictures and read the stories to be able to know where they came from and what events shaped their lives. I want them to know that they come from a long line of couples who are deeply in love and to settle for nothing less when choosing a mate. I want them to know that life was sometimes hard, sometimes mundane and sometimes down right funny. I want them to be linked to their past and be able to reflect on how that past has shaped their lives.