Over the past month, I've decided to start fresh here on the blog and figure out what Journey Mercies will look like in my new season of life as a working mom in America. I wrestled with whether I should continue writing in the midst of busyness and full schedules, and I decided I actually couldn't do without the writing. It's my way of processing the world and communicating what I find valuable and beautiful in life. 

So I went back to the drawing board (literally) and sketched out ideas and dreams and thoughts. And I realized I had never explained why I chose the name Journey Mercies, and why I still think it's the perfect description of my blog.

I first heard the phrase "journey mercies" when I was working in North Africa. A cross cultural worker described hearing the name (or what he thought was a name) Johnny Massey whenever someone was leaving for a trip. Family and friends would tell the traveler, May Johnny Massey go with you! Finally he asked someone who this was. Laughing, his friend told him it was journey mercies they were sending with the traveler, not Johnny. Journey mercies was a phrase that summarized everything one might need along the way to their destination - safety, strength, and grace to face obstacles along the way.

When my husband and I moved to Cambodia in 2009, we prayed for journey mercies to go with us. We were taking a figurative and literal journey across the Pacific Ocean, crossing cultures into a country completely foreign to our own. And along the way, I realized that this move was only part of a journey I had been on all my life to follow Jesus wherever he took me and to discover who he wanted me to be.

We all are on journeys, whether we know it or not. You may be literally crossing oceans to work in foreign fields. You may be on a journey to discover what it means to love God and your family as a mother and homemaker. You might still be trying to figure out who you are and what life means. Or maybe this is the first time you've realized your choices, both passive and intentional, are taking you somewhere, and you need to figure out if that's where you want to go.

My dream for this online space is to become a place for you to be equipped and encouraged in whatever journey you find yourself on. We are fellow travelers in life, and we have wisdom and knowledge to share with one another. Even those of us who come from completely different life backgrounds and who are headed towards different goals can share ideas and cheer one another forward. 

I am focusing on four journeys I find myself on: pursue Jesus, love people, live justly, and explore. And over the next few weeks, I'm going to delve into why those are important and how we can live intentionally in pursuit of those goals. Want to join me? I'd love to hear what journey you are on and where you need encouragement. Leave a comment below or drop me an email.

And may journey mercies follow us on the road.