The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice

Hello, it’s me — a pilgrim on her spiritual journey!

For those of you who know me in real life, hi!👋🏾

For those of you don’t know me in real life, hi, and thank you for stopping by to walk with me!

I’m here writing this post on this squeaky-clean brand-new blog for a variety of reasons including:

1. I love God.
2. I love writing. (Note: This does not mean I’m particularly good about grammar or punctuation!)
3. I am walking this spiritual journey and learning and growing a lot. I’d love to be able to share/walk with/learn from others on this path as part of the New Evangelization.

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Why Write on the Spiritual Journey Now?

It is not particularly sensical for me to be starting a blog right now. Why?

1. I have a full time job as a wife and mother of three kids (5 and under).
2. I have a full time job as a Salesforce Consultant.
3. We are still not of out the woods of the Pandemic (I’m hoping I don’t have to put a year here because ideally this is the only pandemic I will experience).
4. I am not perfect, I have no formal theological training. I do not want to spend a bunch of time on this effort because of my primary vocations (see #1). Who am I to add my thoughts to the thousands of amazing Christian content creators out there?

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Well…

I’m doing it anyway. There are several things going on in my life right now that contributed to this decision:

1. Updated a new #1 as I’ve spent more time blogging. I’m a big believer in removing attachment to things and I love the idea of gifting this blog to my children as a virtual window into the mind/soul/heart of their mother. One day, when I’m gone, they (and their posterity if they exist), will be able to see the thoughts and struggles and revelations of their ancestor, of someone who is in the dust but who lives on, in some small way, through them 🙂
2. I’m almost through Ron Rolheiser’s On the Threshold of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men (which I actually got for my husband for Christmas). It is exactly what I’ve needed to help me kickstart and reframe my spiritual journey.
3. My husband and I are participating in Ascension Press’ Bible in a Year Podcast. I have never read the whole bible before. It’s eye-opening 👀. But I am seeing, again and again, God’s commitment to love and uphold His covenant, and His call to be a light.
4. The Easter Season! Christ is risen, Alleluia! And what will He do on Pentecost, (my second-favorite holiday and my firstborn firstborn son’s baptism day ((no, that’s not a typo :)))? He will Commission Us to go out and spread the good news! So here we are.
5. I have been reading/listening to a lot of content about people that inspires me, including:
   • My Beloved World by Justice Sonia Sotomayor
   • American as Paneer Pie by Supriya Kelkar
   • Becoming by Michelle Obama
   • Kimberly Hahn’s Beloved and Blessed podcast
   • Bishop Barron’s Homilies
6. I had this weird thing situation arise with my Facebook account. I won’t go into details but the short of it is that I lost my Facebook account that I’ve had since the early part of this century (UT was one of the schools first eligible for it when it required a college email address). I didn’t think it would be a big deal but then I realize that I really missed 1) seeing my friends’ lives unfolding and 2) all the good learning I am getting from the communities I’ve joined. While Facebook, on its face (hah) may seem trivial, the community built on it is real (see the litany of people affected via the Twitter by a search on “FacebookDisabledMe“).  I decided I wanted a place that was a platform for me to connect with others without depending on social media in case that gets dicey again.
7. I feel called to share in my journey. I don’t have a specific goal except to write my thoughts down. Maybe this will be a nice way to electronically journal. Maybe one fellow traveler will get value out of something here. I don’t know, but I’m OK with not knowing.

“My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10: 27

I hear His voice, and I’m following Him.

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Pluses

I have some things in my court:

1. My fan base (ok, my family). They think my thoughts are cool and that there’s no big risk to publishing them on some small corner of the internet.
2. I know how to do some internet stuff so this won’t be as hard as it could have been. I forgot and then remembered that I started a Web Design Company called Huemmer Web Design in 4 BC (before children) that was technically successful (in that I made money and actually paid state taxes on it).
3. I have blogged before! Again, BC, I guest blogged for ATX Catholic and my first post was named with the name I had originally chosen for this blog (How Can I Keep From Singing, which was too long :).
4. There are some GREAT blogs (Christian or otherwise)  on how to start a blog to help me on the path (Hat Tips to Green Catholic Burrow, Shameless Popery, and  Adam Enfroy)
5. I have a mission! —  “Create a space to share reflections, walk and learn with others on the spiritual journey, and spread the good news!” (Did I just bury the lede… yes..)

Recap

So to recap:

1. I like making numbered lists.
2. It’ll be fine. I’m a strong believer in “perfection being the enemy of progress” so I’m starting anyway. Let’s see where this goes!