Passions & Pursuits

In Which We Are Introduced

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/zero-to-hero/

 ‘Selfie’ was the word of the year in 2013,  so here I am last Spring in Italy.

Val d'Orcia Tuscany

Val d’Orcia Tuscany

 

I’m participating in The Daily Post’s Zero to Hero: 30 Days To A Better Blog Challenge ~ even though I can’t type that title without cringing.

The tasks they assign will force me to access some of the WordPress features I haven’t used and want to learn.  In less than two weeks we head off to Africa, so that’ll be interesting.  Over ambitious, possibly, probably.
If you’ve read this blog before or checked out the About page then this will be Déjà vu, all over again!

Hello, I’m Kelly Grace.
Three years ago my son-in-law gave me a blog for Christmas.  There it sat on the web with several lonely posts.  I was intimidated by my own blog.  My fingers froze on the keyboard.  For the first time in my life I was speechless, so to speak.

The blog almost died of starvation and neglect until I went with my husband to Africa.

Everything changed dramatically for me and my little fledgling blog on that trip.
All the pieces of this puzzle won’t fit together unless I add the embarrassing fact that I also had another neglected blog on Blogger.

There you have it.
My sad rap sheet of nearly abandoned blogs.  
A serial offender.  
That was me.

But the Blogger blog got a little love on the Africa trip because I bought an iPad and an app called Blogsy. I wanted to post to my WordPress blog, having given up on Blogger because the themes were so limited and frankly, well, uninspiring.  Sadly, Blogsy would never recognized the WordPress site and give me the coveted little W button that allowed me to post to this blog.  Having blogged on Blogger during that trip I revived this WP blog when we came home.
I love WP for the community, the helpful tips, the writing prompts, & the Challenges.  I can find answers to my problems and other great blogs to follow.  

 

A Really Full Life is my own description of what Jesus called ‘an abundant life’.

Every day I look for God’s grace to touch my life and that’s what I write about at A Really Full Life, the place where the divine and the daily intersect.
But mine is a real life.
I blow it all the time.
I don’t cook dinner often enough & I forget to return calls and emails.  I say stupid stuff and sometimes hurt those I love the most in this life.  I used to try to be a better person.  Especially after I became a Christian at 17 years of age.
I bore down hard on becoming a good Christian.  Shoulder to the wheel, nose to the grindstone.
It took years for me to realize it was about a relationship with Jesus not my performance.
This blog is a way of reaching out and sharing the fact that God loves you.  He knows you and wants you to know Him as well.   

 

If we met for a coffee at any of the 17,000 Starbuck’s Coffee locations worldwide, you’d discover right away that I’m an extrovert and an optimist.

Here’s what I’m like and what I like:

    A Jesus lover and follower, cause—you can’t be one without the other!!!
    I like people and find them incredibly fascinating.
    I talk to everyone, much to the chagrin of my kids as they were growing up.
    I like all the ‘normal average stuff’ like my family, cute puppies, music, movies, painting, photography, Pinterest, tumblr, and carbs late at night!
    I read a lot about science, business, and technology, considering I haven’t worked at a paying job for 30 years.
    I watch Ted talks and read Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com .
    I think I’d like to work for Nancy Duarte’s company http://www.duarte.com.  
    The best book I read this year was Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.
    The runner up is Angie Smith’s Mended.
    Best movie list is topped by The Book Thief (also a great read) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is in 2nd place.
    I still love Blackbird and The Long and Winding Road by the Beatles.
    I spend 1-2 months a year teaching the Bible in Ghana, West Africa.
    I’m married to a wild and crazy pastor and missionary named Gary.
    Lover of all things Apple.

What would I learn about you over a Caramel Mocha Frappuccino?  I once asked a lady seated next to me at a luncheon to describe herself.  She said boring, but then I asked her to tell me just one thing about her I would never be able to guess in a million years.  Without hesitation she said, “I have a black belt in Judo.”  With some people you have to drill down a little before you strike oil.

So why would anyone read my blog?  Seriously, I don’t know, but I hope it has appeal to people seeking a real, yet everyday relationship with God.

I try to include encouragement and share truth that has had an influence in my life.  I’ve been on four continents speaking to people about God and I find we are more similar than different.  We all have to earn a living, raise our kids, work at our marriages, and deal with our extended family and neighbors.  We all have struggles and suffering, but the human spirit is hard to keep down and in the end, hope floats to the surface again seeking the sunshine on its face. 

And then there are the photographs.  I mean where else can you see travel shots like these?

Italian front porch.

Italian front porch.

Antique store in Italian countryside

Antique store in Italian countryside

Church Interior motif

Church Interior motif

On occasion I accidentally take a worthwhile photograph.

Grand Canal Venice

Grand Canal Venice

The Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast

Camden Maine

Camden Maine

American Bison, YellowstoneNational Park

American Bison, YellowstoneNational Park

Pelicans Yellowstone National Park

Pelicans Yellowstone National Park

 

Say hello in the comments section, I’d like to visit your blog and see what you’re all about 😉

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My passion is to help you discover how God’s word can reach down into your heart and produce amazing transformations in you, your relationships, and your influence in the world around you. 
 Sound good?

Hi, I'm Kelly

Blogger, Jesus Girl, Grace-believing optimist

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