Beginnings: Welcome!

Welcome to Becoming Peculiar!

I want to thank you for stopping by and checking out this here blog. I hope you’ll stick around and make yourself comfortable as I get settled in. Please don’t mind if a few things are still out of place or if a box or two are still unpacked . . . I’m still getting organized.

Well, if you’re here, it’s probably because you already know me, either from Real Life or Project M; but if not: Hi! I’m Kathleen! I like you already. You can check out my “Meet Kathleen” page if you want to know more about me. I’m so pleased to make your online acquaintance! Please, introduce yourself in the comments if you feel so inclined!

I explain what Becoming Peculiar is all about in my About Page, but if you don’t feel like clicking, here’s a brief summary:

Becoming Peculiar chronicles a journey of living out Jesus’ radical, counter-cultural, counter-intuitive Way.

It’s inspired by 1 Peter 2:9 which says: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

(I like the old-timey sound of the King James Version every once in a while. I’m a former student of English Renaissance literature, with a special interest in early modern sermons and religious poetry).

I want to live out a life that is so peculiar that it causes people to catch glimpses of that “marvelous light.” I’m on a quest to be strange in the ways that Jesus was strange:  dying to self, and joining the ranks of the poor, the uncool, and the weird.

I have so much to learn, so much sin to slough off, and I want your help. I want for us to learn and grow together.

My plan is to post something three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) though this may go down during the summer months while I’m busy with the garden. I want to cover such topics as creation care, Christ-inspired parenting, non-violence, and simple living.

Once a week — every Friday, I hope — I plan to devote a post to confessing ways that I’m still a hypocrite. There are two reasons for this: first, because I know people will sometimes see me acting and living in ways that don’t jive with what I claim to value. I might as well beat them to pointing it out. Second, I want to do this to keep myself from getting proud, lest I start to believe that simply writing about good things makes me a good person.

My primary motivation for starting this blog was to get me to start taking action on the things I believe in. After all, faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

I will probably occasionally write about and show pictures of my baby and my dog, too, even though they’re completely irrelevant to the blog’s topic, just because I won’t be able to help myself. Because seriously, look at these guys.

I’m also passionate about such topics as natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and motherhood, so you can expect plenty of posts on those topics as well.

Thanks again for stopping by! Click around and get comfortable!

P.S. — if you’re ever looking for someone to help you set up a blog, consider working with the brilliant Vina of A Nourishing Home. I could NOT have created Becoming Peculiar without her technical skills, design skills, social media savvy, and general brilliant advice.

Now that I’ve told you a little about this blog, what would you be interested in seeing? Also: what you think are some characteristics of “a peculiar people” in the biblical sense?

Welcome Mat Image courtesy of alborzshawn.