Different and the Same

So my blog is moving, and I am excited and nervous at the same time.

When I started this blog back at the end of 2009, I was a lonely conservative Christian with 3 kids under the age of 3 who had recently moved far away from everyone I used to know.  I never thought it would be anything much, just a place to collect my thoughts and work through some of my faith questions. I remember being surprised when I got my first follower, and comments started trickling in.

Almost 3 years later, I still don’t think my blog is anything much, except to me. I’ve found it to be a creative outlet and a safe place to talk about my doubts, dreams and discoveries. I’ve made friends, learned a lot, and hit the publish button more than 300 times. In the last year, I lost my anonymity and it seemed like everyone I knew in real life was bent on getting me to shut my blog down and be quiet, but somehow I just couldn’t give it up. Even when it has been a struggle to put together a coherent post, I knew I couldn’t quit. Writing is a part of me, and so is my story, and so… I blog.

When Patheos asked if I was interested in letting them host my blog, I was very excited and a bit unsure. Patheos is a big place, my blog won’t be my small amateur effort anymore, the blog format is different and I find ads somewhat irritating.

On the other hand, I will be part of a new diverse community, have lots of network support for my floundering technical skills, and I can get paid for the writing I am doing anyway without having to navigate the world of ads myself.

And so, I am moving, nerves and all. And I’ll be in good company with some of my friends such as No Longer Quivering, The Phoenix and TheOlive Branch and Love Joy Feminism.

I am looking forward to continuing to write and interact with all of you. This URL (www.ayoungmomsmusings.blogspot.com) will get automatically forwarded to the new URL (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/permissiontolive), so it shouldn’t affect your ability to follow my blog. Also if you follow me on facebook or twitter it may be easier for you to keep track of me through this move, since those sites won’t be changing. My writing will continue as usual, I am working on several post in my absent minded multi-tasking way, including my ongoing series on Gentle Parenting Tools, more thoughts on fundamentalism and faith and non-faith,  my first impressions of the LGBTQ community, and our family’s adventures as we start a new life.

See you all there?