Foreward

I think in terms of blogs. It’s true. That and facebook statuses. I am not obsessed with the internet (well, not any more than the average twenty-something girl), but I am always composing in my head because I love the idea of sharing my life’s stories - the idea that my lessons learned, my creative outlets, my awesome experiences, my random thoughts, and my ever-growing faith are not kept to myself. I have wanted to blog for a while, but there was one thing holding me back. Only one….

THE NAME.

Now, my career and my educational background are both in Marketing. Pressure’s on. I am silly to admit this, but I made flow charts and diagrams for months before making a blog. I would write down ideas, create blog segments, and plot out the growth of my blog. Guess what? That makes it so not fun. Last weekend one of my favorite friends said, “You have all of the best stories – the craziest things happen to you.” I contested because I don’t feel like crazy things happen to me, but she did get me thinking about the fact that I do view my world and my life in terms of stories.

A colleague recently asked me what I like about my profession. My response? The stories. Behind every restaurant chain, every bottle of shampoo, every mutual fund, and every noble cause there is a story begging to be written and told. I want to tell it.

Also, I have been reading “The Purpose Driven Life” in which the author challenges us to determine how we look at our faith – as a journey, a race, etc. Mine is a story. Always a story. When I talk about my faith, I talk about chapters and key characters and transitions. I talk about how My Little Story is – and was always meant to be – a part of God’s Big Story.

Ever have one of those songs that just grabs on to your heart and makes itself at home for a while? My recent favorite song is “Beautiful, Beautiful” by Francesca Battistelli. It is a testimony to the fact that God makes beauty from our ashes. He takes our quirks and blunders and valiant efforts and chaos, ties it all up with a bow, and makes us beautiful characters in His story.

So there we have it. His beauty and my stories. EmilysBeautifulStory.

All of that is to say…
Welcome to my blog – full of love and laughs and thoughts and hobbies and travel and relationships and His Beauty.