My name is Janelle. I am a twenty-something lady born and raised in Michigan. I have an affinity for coffee, adventure, medicine, and Frank Sinatra. I work as a Nurse delivering tiny miracles into the world during the night, and through the day I am: an Aunt, Sister, Daughter, Step-Daughter, Niece, Granddaughter, Cousin, and hopefully to some.. Friend. All of this under the umbrella of Christianity. Though my whole life I have been a Christian, there have been many moments where I have been more luke-warm.. or even cold. I have turned my back on my faith when my faith has been the only thing to carry me to where I am.
As a child, Sundays were dedicated to Bible school and Church, along with Wednesday nights and occasionally weekends when there were youth events. My mom was raised conservatively, and wanted to push those same standards on my brothers and I. Our standards, were only reinforced by my two amazing grandparents. Every memory I have with my Pappaw starts with him opening the shades in the living room (because in his opinion we were sleeping in too late) and then going back to study his Bible at the kitchen table. For the most part, my grandpa was a gentle man, who was only made sweeter by my grandmother. My Mammaw was the pure definition of grace, meekness, humility, and kindness. I never once, heard my grandma speak ill of others... and for many reasons she was a person in my life I greatly admired and adored. At the age of 19 I lost my mother to Lupus. Almost 6 months to the day I lost my grandfather.. and last year I lost my grandmother. Each death was hard and different.. but each taught me more about life. These lessons each encouraged my drive and have focused my attention. Unfortunately, somewhere a long the line I lost sight of my real purpose.. God.
So now, you know my past. Let me explain why I am here.. and why I started this blog. My personal struggle through life has been 'staying bold'. I was raised and continue to have a morale standard as well as high expectation for how I should live my life. Where I have continually fallen short is holding strong in my convictions in the eye of opposition. I suppose I have always felt that personal struggles are meant to give you an opportunity to help others in similar situations, so that is my goal here. With age, luck, and a lot of grace.. I have learned a lot about life, and I hope that God continues to push my limits and use me as an example. I want to use this blog as a study tool and an interactive learning environment between Christian women. My wish is that women use this blog to share, engage, encourage and grow. Please reach out to me as you wish, and I will answer as quickly as I am able. My email is: LearningtobeRuth@gmail.com.
