I’m back from my summer blog break and ready for a fresh start… and also kind of feeling like I forgot how to write a blog post. But before I talk about the fresh start, let me talk about the break. What did I do with six whole weeks of no blogging?

Well, mainly I worked on my book, although I didn’t make as much progress as I wanted or needed to (and it’s still going to have to come first until it’s done). And I didn’t take a break from my freelance work. But between those things, without the blog to worry about I had a lot of time for reading and the slow processing of ideas. And let me tell you, I read a lot.

I kind of surprised myself, actually. As much as I love to read, I also really like TV, so I thought I’d spend a lot of my downtime during the break catching up on at least one Netflix series. But other than dipping my toes into The Great British Baking Show while working on a (slow) embroidery project (and also other than the hour a night my husband and I spend watching a show together–right now we’re catching up on Better Call Saul and it is crazy good) I haven’t watched anything. What’s even more surprising is how much of my reading has been non-fiction instead of fiction (although there has been quite a lot of fiction in the mix, too).

At any rate, I was grateful for the time to just process and fill the well, and also to pray and plan. One of the things I prayed a lot and spent a lot of time journaling about was this blog. Because the truth is that I had gotten to a point where I wasn’t sure what the point of it was anymore, or if it should even continue to be something I put my time and energy into. It was feeling more like a chore than a passion, and I knew it was time to stop, if only temporarily.

So I stopped. And I prayed a lot about whether I should stop for good or just take a break. And I prayed about the purpose and mission of this blog, which turned into examining MY purpose and mission on this earth and how that can be expressed through this blog.

Which brings me to the fresh start.

If you’re reading this post at the actual blog, you probably noticed the new layout and a new logo (if you’re reading this somewhere else, you can click here to check them out). The new logo also includes a new tag line: “Standing at the intersection of faith, creativity, simplicity and knowing what matters most.” Those are pretty much the four pillars of my life (the fifth is home and family, but that tag line was already feeling overstuffed and those things are pretty well covered under “what matters most”). And I’ve realized that not only am I all about figuring out how these things intersect and interact together, I’m also all about helping you figure out what that looks like in your own life.

I also want to inspire you, encourage you and build up your faith–not only in God but in believing the truth about who you are and what you’re capable of in Christ. And I want to help you give yourself permission to relax, to lay hold of grace and let go of what doesn’t matter that’s getting in the way of what does, to stop emulating Martha so much and start emulating her sister Mary more.

As to what that’s going to look like… we’ll see. I think this is a “learn as you go” type of thing, and there’s going to be a period of transition as I learn to navigate my mission and settle into my new blog skin. I’m hereby giving myself permission to experiment and try out different things, and I’m giving you permission to tell me how those things sit with you.

But for now, I think it will look like this: Shorter blog posts about lighter topics such as what I’m reading or listening to or using and how I’m fitting these concepts into my life, as well as more practical posts about doing life and adulting and being faithful stewards of what we’re given. And I’ll save the deeper, more theological stuff for the newsletter, which will go out once a month, in order to give me plenty of time to process these bigger ideas and do them justice.

There are also some other fun things coming. Like a shop that will sell graphic inspirational prints and other merchandise like mugs and tee-shirts created to inspire and encourage you. And an online course or two, or at the very least some workbooks aimed at helping you sort some of these things out in your own life. The print shop is coming as soon as I can get the shop set up–hopefully some time in the next week or two. The classes and/or workbooks will have to remain in the idea stage until my book is finished, which will be a while yet.

Here’s a peek at what will be in the shop:

And I’ll be giving away free printables of each of these designs to subscribers of my monthly newsletter, Daydreamer Dispatch. So if you would like to delve deeper with me each month about how faith intersects with creativity and doing life in a way that puts first things first, click here to sign up, and you’ll be given a link to download print quality PDFs of the above graphics. I’m kicking around the idea of sending out a new printable in each issue of the newsletter, but that will depend on whether I have time to create a new graphic each month.

In light of all of that, I can genuinely say I’m happy to be back, and I’m excited about moving forward!

What about you guys? Does my new tag line and its four pillars stir up any issues or questions in your heart that you’d like to see addressed here? Do you have a favorite quote or verse you’d like to see turned into a graphic print and added to the shop? I’d love to hear your ideas, as well as what you’ve been up to this summer! Let’s chat in the comments. ♥