I Would Like to Thank the Academy....

I'm just starting this blog on a whim.  It's something that I've thought and thought and thought about for the longest time, but my inner-perfectionism has prevented me from just jumping in with both feet and GOING FOR IT!  But, after finding a blogger who seems to be my soul-sister and ongoing encouragement from a very dear friend, I'm DOING this.  I have no idea where this blog will "go."  I only know that I MUST start.  [Isn't there a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote about that?  Hold on a sec while I go Google it....]

Found it!  Oh, it's better than I thought-- and SO appropriate:

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step."  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

So, THANK YOU, dear friend Debbie.  Your encouragement (even if you don't realize how you've been spurring me toward this through your OWN blogger journey!) has been immeasurable.  And, I can't wait to see where my own path leads....  [I will link YOUR blog-- The Sour Path is the Sweetest-- here in the comments when I'm brave enough!  Right now, I don't want anyone to actually READ this blog yet... so I'm afraid of leaving a digital trail!]

And THANK YOU, Dana White (AKA "Nony") at A Slob Comes Clean.  [You can find her site by searching "a slob comes clean."  I'll link in comments when I feel more courageous.]  ;)  Dana, I just discovered your website/podcasts a few days ago, and I was floored by how similar MY story is to YOURS.  I feel like I'm an organized person trapped in the body of a disorganized person, and I've harbored tremendous guilt for at least a DECADE (since becoming a mother), and now I feel like I can finally be FREE of that guilt.  I was so encouraged by your story about how your ASCC blog came into existence-- as a sort of God-given revelation (which I know you don't say lightly or flippantly, and I BELIEVE YOU).  You, truly, were brave enough [had FAITH enough] to simply take that first STEP... and that is why I'm writing TODAY.  As I listened to your podcasts [as I hand-washed a week's worth of dishes], I just kept laughing and shaking my head as time-after-time, I would think, "That's ME!"  I definitely want to credit you along this journey, and I promise that I WILL.  As I said, I don't know where this blog will lead me, and it won't just be a copy-cat ASCC blog.  But, you definitely have been a catalyst to get things going... so THANK YOU!

Ideas for my next post:  Where'd That Wacky Title Come From?