and one more...

Girls, already your posts are proving that this little endeavor is indeed going to be a blessing. I see in you so much of our Father, and the way He’s working in your stories is amazing evidence of His goodness.

I feel like my life is constantly at a crossroads, at that proverbial fork where I am supposed to choose: the road less-traveled or… The road too-traveled, I suppose.

In May, I’ll come to yet another bend. Jordan will graduate from law school, and I’ll make the transition from law student’s wife to lawyer’s wife. I don’t think words could adequately express how badly I want to postpone that switch. After all, we’re talking about a girl who still uses her old debit card just so she can sign her former last name on Lowe’s receipts. (Please don’t tell on me. It’s pathetic, I know.)

The point is, just when I find contentment in my place and purpose, God moves me. To a new town, a new job, a new life stage. I suppose it’s His way of telling me that true contentment only comes from Him.

So, I’m learning to just live. Because, as is evidenced by the previous chapters in my story, God always comes through. May will arrive, and change will arrive with it. Or it may not. It’s hard to say what scares me more: the thought of moving and starting over, or the thought of not.

But either way, my God will pull me through; He will transition me through the ups and downs. That's just who He is.

He has made me to be an adventure-seeker. Not the climb-rocks-and-jump-out-of-buildings kind of adventure. More like the what-can-I-do-to-make-this-day-awesome kind of adventure. I just celebrated my one year anniversary with my husband and my 10-year-anniversary with Jesus (the two best kinds of adventure). I am a lover of stories. Can’t get enough and will take them in any format, as evidenced by my Google Reader. (Though I should interrupt to say: nothing beats the feel of paper to skin.) I’m in the throes of graduate school applications in the hopes that my acceptance will assuage this steady “what’s next?” feeling I keep having. And my family is more important to me than I could ever write here.

My background is journalism, and my day job is a theme and variation thereof. After a not-so-great job, then turning down what I thought was my dream job, I feel pretty happy here in my little office, writing and editing law-related news stories. God knew how much I could handle, and after months of praying for a new gig, He gave me one, and I love it.

When I'm not editing a piece until my eyes bleed, I dabble in graphic design, interior décor, and the ever-elusive art of homemaking. I wish I could sing, play guitar, and drink hot chocolate while channelling Thoreau and writing the next great American novel in my house by a lake in Massachusetts. Until that happens, though, I’m content in Tallahassee, learning to be the best version of myself. Even though I don’t always know what that means.

chew* is my effort at maintaining Anne-and-Diana friendships while stretching my brain to accept new possibilities, spiritual and otherwise.

an introduction.

After I graduated from Faulkner, I felt a little empty inside. Life was going great, I had a job, Jordan and I were engaged, but... there was a hole.

After months of searching, I finally discovered what was missing from my life: discourse.

Discussion.

The free and open exchange of ideas.

I started a blog. I began emailing friends from college and from my internship who I shared common ideas with. Those emails and blog comments were helpful, but they've diminished over the past several months. Life gets busy, and sadly, I don't always have time to sit and write lengthy emails to faraway friends-- even if they are kindred spirits. It's hard to strike that balance between retaining old friends and making new ones. Slowly, I began to find peace and purpose in where I was. I made new friends, formed new bonds.

For once, I feel comfortable and content where I am (mostly).

But I still miss open discussion about spirituality, creativity.

Then this week, I logged onto Spring. It's a new project I found out about via a blog I read, and I think the concept is brilliant. Four ladies from four different cities and four different walks of life connected online, and now they're producing monthly videos about topics close to their heart and publishing them online. I watched, and I thought:

Why can't I do that?

Why can't, once a month, I sit down and video chat with my kindred spirits? In 2009, distance should be moot. We have telephones, Internet... I remember making three way calls when I was in 7th grade! What's stopping me now?

I'll admit, I've tried other things to keep in touch, to keep discourse alive. I've started a book club, created a joint blog... Some of these efforts fail, some succeed.

That's when this solution began to take fruition. This solution. An idea I'm calling chew*.

A place where kindred spirits can discuss topics like the Sabbath, church tradition, contentment, creativity, and passion.

These girls graciously agreed to join me.

In January, we'll start posting our thoughts via video. (If I can find a techie out there who can show me how.) Until then, let's get to know each other.

This week, if you can, post a bio of yourself. I know all of you, but you don't know each other. Explain who you are, what you're doing, what you're reaching for, and who you hope to become. Maybe let us all know what you'd like to come of these sessions.

I'm so excited about this endeavor. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I think this could be the start of something wonderful.