It’s January and the start of another calendar year. Today is the start of a rejuvenated blog. My blogging attempts began in 2009. That was the year of my first trip to the Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC)/Christian Bilingual University of Congo in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo. I began blogging to share with family and friends some of my experiences of life and work in Congo and with Congo Initiative. I continued to write there off and on over the next few years. Then mostly “off.”

In 2014 I restarted the blog with a new look, then failed to maintain a writing schedule.

So, why another restart? Because God has been nudging me to do this. God has brought people, experiences, transitions, challenges, and joys into my life. God keeps whispering, “Write.” (Perhaps more on that at another time.)

What will this blog be about? It will be about grace and mercy showing up when life overwhelms. This website will be a place for a little encouragement, hope, and even joy for this day–whatever day that is for you.

Why? Because life overwhelms us with decisions, tasks, and responsibilities. Sometimes life crushes us with deceit and disappointment. Then there are the surprises and transitions. Some just tumble across our path, and we swerve around them. Others crash and raze the very foundations of our lives.

This is where having lived a bit helps. We look back at earlier times when life didn’t play out as we had planned. We see how God intervened, provided, and protected. Then we look to this day, this time. We hang on in faith. We focus on this day, sometimes even this moment. The twelve-step community reminds me, “Just for today I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once.”

So, I’m starting again. Today.