A Small Breath Beginning

I’ve had a number of people ask me if I would write a novel. I’ve decided to start with a blog. I’ve tried blogging before… briefly. I’m starting again, and since it’s been said to not “to despise small beginnings,”* I’m choosing to commence.

I’ve decided to entitle this blog: “Fresh Air.” Now, before I or others get too assured and assume all my writing will be creative and fresh -- like a breath of pleasantly fragrant air -- let me include a caveat. Sometimes I feel fresh; sometimes I don’t.

Hmmm, maybe I should change the wording of that caveat so as not to be confused with any items on the personal hygiene aisle, but no, I think I’ll keep it “as is.” Why? Because the more I grow, the more I want to be transparent… and therein lies a reality: not all of my life is pure and clean, and that includes my thoughts and my actions.

So, my blog will be occasional, and not always consistent – but it should rarely ever be closed for comment. Feel free to chime in as the spirit leads you.** Because the Spirit leads me, I can claim that my own murky meanderings will most often be filtered through a faith sieve. I am grateful that my own refining doesn’t negate the most important reality: I and all others are so beloved by our Creator, that He made a way for us to spend eternity in His presence… regardless of how impure is our earthly existence.

That’s a pretty cool concept, and one you’ll view me explore at differing times within this blog. You see, my relationship with the One Who Calls Us Beloved is my plumb line -- so it can’t help but weave itself into the tapestry of this Todd’s time on our rotating round ball in space. Yet I can say with certainty that there will be times when it’s just life observations I write about, or even worries and concerns of myself and others. Laced throughout the colors of my days are also responses to current events, geographical locations, traditions, readings, relationship and so forth.

Yes, sometimes, there are dark things that need to be exposed to the Light and to be seen for what they are. There are times when the Wind of Change needs to blow away are the remnants of refuse that cling to the topics we don’t want to touch upon. But, we’re not put on the planet for only our own pleasure. All of us have a calling, and I believe that calling includes shining light where there is darkness, giving hope where there is despair, extending comfort where there is heartache, and letting the sweet aroma of love be the perfume of our days. Those who understand hanging clothes out on a line grasp the benefits of a “fresh airing.”

So today is a small beginning. A blog. Entitled “Fresh Air.” May it become what it has been called to be.

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* Zechariah 4:10
**I reserve the right to filter comments, so as not to open the blog up to inappropriate or offensive information.