Four~Hundred Short Stories...

{...and I still feel young!}

{The first photo taken from this wee blog!}

Hello my wonderful friends,

I am overwhelmed, and excited to announce that this is officially my 400th blog post!

A place I created to share my heart, and aspects of what I considered to be an interesting, challenging, wonderful, often weird, and always poetic life...

I wish to link to, and give thanks to a kindred spirit, whose friendship did lead to me starting this blog - a beloved friend whom I met in a paper shop once in Sydney... Our meeting was at first brief, and "chance" - as chance as the Lord's careful workings in His purposeful tapestry -that we call our lives...

I speak of my meeting Miss Emily, in said paper shop, in said Australian city, because as the Lord did sew it with his careful thread - an awakening was to occur inside of me, through this befriending.

I guess I had just become too busy, lapsed into being inwardly anxious, digressed into being outwardly unconscious... In short, I loved the Lord, but had seemingly forgotten - in the preciousness of the every day - how to engage with Him.

And this is sort of how I became, More Than Twelve Short Stories...

My band had just finished recording, and was about to release an album which I had written and named Twelve Short Stories. It was a pretty exciting time, and I did nothing but talk about and promote the album to the ends of the Earth (as it was our own indie release).

So I needed this place to be just for my thoughts, my sometimes fears, my poems, my walks, my family, my faith, my recipes, my photos: my short stories - more than Twelve Short Stories...

And then, before long, without ado, like a small still voice, came a flow of new inspiration! A flourish of new friends and kindred spirits! Possibilities, and new ways to explore my artistry!

And I began writing new songs, and found a place to share them, from their birth, with my readers.

And through this all, I have grown so entirely.

But I would have had no-one to talk with, had it not been for you.

Your comments have surprised and delighted, charmed and enlightened me! I am humbled by the success of this blog, and ever so very thankful! For paper shops, and tapestries, and blue blogs, and bookmarks, and zucchini soup, and friendship, and honesty, the Holy Spirit, and heart songs, and little birds...

For being woken up from a deepest sleep, I didn't know I was in...

I pray dear reader,

That some sense can be made of my heartfelt ramblings this night! And that you will stay with me? I promise I will remain awake with you to grow, and discover new parts of the tapestry which is by no means a "chance" or a random thing - but is our lives!

And I intend to go on and share the poetic, and the meaningful aspects of it all, here with you.

Shell xx