Have you ever had that “thing” in your life you always wanted to do but never got to? Maybe you’ve always wanted to take on a college degree or start up that new small business. What has been holding you back? I’m willing to bet it is the same thing that has been holding me back…fear. Fear that you don’t have what it takes. Fear that you will fail. Fear of what others will think of you. Fear that people will see just how bad you are at spelling and grammar. OK, maybe that last one does not apply to you, but it applies to me because I am a closet writer.

I have been writing on and off my whole life, especially these last five years, but precious few people have ever read anything I have done. I am afraid to take that step because placing my words out in the public arena exposes my vulnerabilities in ways nothing else does. My heart comes out when I write, I can’t help it. I don’t know about you but holding my heart out for anyone to critique and criticize is not exactly something I am enthusiastic to do…and yet…holding your heart out is how we truly connect with other human beings. It is in this true connection we can know and are known by others. We also gain in this a deeper understanding of the second half of the double-love command (Matthew 22:36-40) to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

So I am using this trip to Kenya to take my first step towards taking my writing public, towards being known. I am inviting you to join me as I “cast my bread upon the waters” and see what God does with it and where he takes me. At first I am going to use this blog to update everyone on our trip. I will keep you up to date on where we are and what we are doing. When I return I will keep blogging and just see where it takes me.

A very wise man once told me blog posts should be short and quippy. I feel I have exceeded that by now so I will draw this post to a close shortly. I just want to end by asking YOU what you have been putting off due to fear? Is God trying to draw you to cast your bread upon the waters and see what happens? You may not see anything right away, after all Ecclesiastes 11:1 tells us we will only find it after many days. As for me my bread is cast and I am using this trip to Kenya as a point in time where I can state my name is Carrie. I am a writer. This is my blog.