before everything, there must be Him

beginning with the right things in mind, by way of a rambling mini-history of my writing

Last year I told a dear friend of mine about a plan: I was going to spend the final months of 2024 archiving posts on my blog and moving the best ones here to Substack. Also, I was going to close the shop side of my blog.

I’ve had a blog since the days of Myspace, dear readers. (age me if you like)

I distinctly remember writing a post there, in about 2007, musing on “what even is a blog?!” and another about how I was trying to teach my children about the value of praying to Mary.

And when I started my still-standing blog, my vision was to write inspiring and quippy posts for other mothers, to encourage them in “raising saints”. Mind you my oldest child at the time was probably not even 10 years old.

I wrote best in the mornings while nursing a sweet babe, or just after rolling away from said sweet babe/toddler to take advantage of the quiet in the house before pitter-pattering feet clambered to the kitchen, looking for me to pour a bowl of cereal.

And then my oldest grew up a little and suddenly I knew nothing. Not because she told me so in her angsty tween and teenage years, but because I realized that I knew nothing.

I knew nothing about depression, or any mental health issue in youth.

I knew nothing about teens questioning their faith (I never questioned mine).

I knew nothing about the right time to fire a counselor, nothing about navigating a marital crisis, nothing about anything…

and I stopped writing what I thought that blog would be about.

The point isn’t to raise saints. That’s a secondary or tertiary effect of the “main thing” in my life (and yours, I’d argue).

The main thing, the purpose, is for myself to know and love the Lord. It’s to surrender to His will and action in my life… and to let Him transform me into a saint.

But first I must know God and to know God I have to spend time with Him.

And to do that, everything in my life—I’m talking about the dishes, the meals for 4 hungry boys, the late-night chats with teens and young adults, the on-my-knees prayer for my adult daughters, the homeschooling, the too-infrequent dates with my husband—must be ordered properly to make GOD first.

It’s a fundamental reality I’m constantly re-learning and practicing. Even this morning, with a writing deadline looming, I woke up to a circus of thoughts competing for my attention.

…Lord. You know what I have to accomplish today! Help me focus and serve You well… and make time for me to pray later. I have to write this morning… for your glory.

Not even a cordial “Amen” in closing, and I sat down to transfer my hand-written notes into a carefully crafted reflection on a reading from the book of Acts. (why now? Because it’s still true that I write best in the morning and silence before any of my now-thundering-down-the-stairs sons wake. I have to use what works!)

I did. (to read that, you’ll have to subscribe to Blessed Is She . it will publish in May.)

I trust God will have a quiet space for me later in the day to connect with Him more deeply that my half-awake prayer muttered over the jumble of thoughts. ;)

And what’s the point of this post? I suppose to share a little of my backstory, and what matters most. The Lord matters most. And I’ve been itching to share something here, but couldn’t figure out what or how without giving some context to me first.

So that’s that. On to the next thing, and always for His glory. More on that in the future. AMDG

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