She Lives Encouraged

The King and I…one of my favorite musicals. Growing up as a child I watched it with my mom, then learned the songs and sang them along with her.  One of my favorite songs is “Getting to Know You” and trust me…as I’m writing this I’m singing like Anna in the movie.  If you’ve seen this musical, you know this song is sung by Anna as she is giving her first class to the king’s children in Siam and her very first lesson becomes something very essential – and that is getting to know each other.

“Getting to know you, getting to know all about you. Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me. Getting to know you, putting it my way but nicely…you are precisely my cup of tea.”

My name is Diane and it is so nice to meet you.  I’m so glad you’re here.  I am married for 17 years (and still going YAY!), mother of 3 beautiful children, and own our precious dog, King. I work a full-time job as an Office Manager in an elementary school. I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ at a young age, but fell in love with him in my young adult years. My husband and I have served the Lord in ministry for over 20 years and currently teach J12 Ministry at our church (5th-6th graders).  I love to eat, especially dessert (i will eat all the chocolate too), drink coffee and I love spending time with family and friends.

And now, I have just joined the world of blogging.  I know, millions people are doing this already, so why now? Believe me, I kept asking that question myself. But it is time for me to take that step of faith. You know, that scary step…that first step. Like stepping out of the boat like Peter did.  Totally out of my comfort zone. Why? Because of a stirring in my heart…to share and use the gift of encouragement for others thru Jesus Christ. And, most of all, because of obedience to the Lord. You know as well as I do that we live in a crazy world and if you’re like me, you need that encouragement after a long day, or during a trial, or just from watching the news!

I want to share with you the purpose and goals of this blog.  They are:

• for you to be encouraged and edified
• for you to know you are not alone going thru life. Many times we go thru the same thing and we can edify each other thru our experiences.
• for you to be inspired by God’s word
• for you to share with others what God is doing in your life…to encourage others, which fulfills our theme verse “…that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Roman 1:12 (NIV)

So there it is. Pretty simple.  And just like the lyrics above, I really “hope you like” this blog. I hope it becomes your “cup of tea” as we walk thru life together…holding on to Jesus every step of the way.

I’ll be honest, and you probably already know by now…I am not a writer.  And I can’t promise that I will write everyday, in fact, I’m pretty sure I won’t (just keeping it real if you know what I mean). But when I do, I assure you that you will be encouraged and uplifted thru  God’s word and what He wants to do in our daily life.  I’ll be writing again soon, so meanwhile, take a look around you..and see who you can encourage today.