I’ve decided to start blogging. Why? Certainly not because I’m particularly insightful, spiritual, wise, or anything like that; I’m none of these things. I can think of four reasons off the top of my head. First, I want to encourage you all! I know from personal experience that I’ve been thoroughly blessed by the blogs/writings of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and I want to do the same! Second, it will help keep me accountable, especially as I jet off to college. I’d imagine that the things I write here will contain goals, struggles, and ways I need to grow; I would love it if you all would challenge me, and check up on how I’m doing in those regards. Third, I’ve recently realized the benefits of being able to articulate my thoughts to myself. Too often I let ideas float around in my head, half-formed and hazy. Writing them out helps me to crystallize my thoughts, and to make them more real and clear to myself! And finally…well, I’m crossing my fingers that this’ll make me a better writer! Hopefully this blog will help kill four birds with one stone (it started off as two) and serve quadruple purposes as an encouragement to those reading, accountability for me, a helpful tool for my own growth, and a jump-start for my iffy writing skills. whew!

So why the title ‘Joy Inexpressible’? The truth is I’m  miserable at thinking up names for things (which is why this post is entitled what it’s entitled, and why my tumblr is still called “:)”). I’ve always been scared that if your site didn’t have a cool name, and a witty description that people would scoff and dismiss it; so I jumped the first moment I thought of a respectable title!

But in all seriousness, these words, ‘joy inexpressible” hold a lot of meaning for me. Everything I long for, and hope for are wrapped up in these words. The phrase comes from 1 Peter  1:8: ‘⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Though I have not seen him and even now do not see him, I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that in him is joy inexpressible, filled with glory, and that in him there is salvation for my soul! And that’s what I want this blog to be about! About Christ, the pursuit of his likeness, and the joy found in his love 🙂 (There is a lot more that could, and should be said about this passage, but I’ll save it for another time!)

In closing, I’m still not quite sure how this will turn out. To be honest, I don’t really know anything about blogging at all other than you post stuff up, and people read it. So that’s what I’m going to do. And we’ll see how it goes.