Exciting Changes {The Nurtured Home}

There have been some changes here both in our house and on 3 peanuts.  You might have noticed that the blog looks different.  A few people were sad to see the illustration of the peanuts go.  While I loved that graphic and it did reflect my kids perfectly at one point in time...it started to feel dated to me.  Will is a full fledged teenager now with the social life to prove it.  And Harry is right behind him.  I wanted something super clean, modern and simple and I am very happy with the design.

I also added my e-mail address to the blog.  For 5 and 1/2 years I never had my email on the blog.  I just did not want it out there.  Well, when I put it there the other day offering to pray for people, I was so honored with the responses.  Several people e-mailed me personal and heartfelt stories and prayer requests.  I feel so connected to those readers now.  I thank you for trusting me with your stories and your prayers. I am writing them all in a prayer journal and will pray for each of you who asked.

We also added social media buttons on the sidebar. I have a love/hate relationship with social media. Honestly, I love blogging but I could do without facebook, twitter, instagram and the rest.  I think they steal time away from living (for me anyway). However, I know that this is the world we live in and I need to use the social media for what is coming next...

So, a big project I have been working on is FINALLY about to happen. About 3 years ago, I got the idea to start a website for people looking for advice, research and posts on relationships and family. I envisioned articles on everything from potty training to bullying and eating disorders to toddler tantrums and teenage texting. I wanted the site to talk about how to maintain healthy marriages and relationships over the long haul.  I really wanted to help people create a Nurtured Home.

I worked for months on a name for the site. I finally bought the domain and I reserved the blogspot address. And then FEAR overcame me and I never acted on it. I wrote articles for the site. I kept ideas and journaled about it.  But my own fear of failure kept me from taking action.  I let the fear just marinate my soul and I really regret that now.  What if it fails?  What if no one reads it?  What if I cannot get experts to help me with interviews?  What if I cannot keep the pace and do the actual WORK (because my family does come first)?  I am really busy already. I was not sure I could do it.

I doubted myself for 3 years. All the while I had the biggest cheerleader in my dear friend, Shana.  She would ask me constantly how it was coming and what I did today to work on it. She helped me with every single idea.  We spent hours and hours talking about it each week.  She was relentless in her enthusiasm and her belief in me.  Other friends and Dave also encouraged me from time to time.  Truly, they did. But Shana NEVER gave up. She spent so much time trying to get me to believe I could do it.  I don't think one week has gone by in the last 3 years where she did not try to help me with this project. Her unwavering support means the world to me. I am not sure I could ever thank her enough.  She believed in me when I did not believe in myself.  That is some kind of friend.

The final push though came in the last few weeks.  I have been working a lot more and some great opportunities have come my way in the form of speaking engagements.  One of those is the fabulous radio opportunity that Sibi provided me.  In one of our phone conversations, Sibi said something to me that completely unlocked my fear.  It is pretty personal and I am not ready to share it all but basically she told me that I need to do this as I need to use and share the gifts the Lord has given me.  And while I knew that (and tried to remind myself of it daily), the way she told me it was as if the Holy Spirit were telling it to me directly. Something clicked.

So, the long journey is about to get more interesting.  I will be launching a new website called the Nurtured Home within the next few months!  The site is being designed and I am getting articles written.  There might a blog radio show to address all topics of parenting, nutrition, home, style, family traditions, inspiration, faith and relationships.  (Thank you Sibi and listeners for that encouragement!)  People will be able to call in or email questions on the week's topic.  I am not an expert on all those topics but I will be finding people who are.  We will talk about anything and everything that goes into creating 

The Nurtured Home.

I share this story with you all for a few reasons.  First, if any of you is letting fear hold you back, I want to inspire you.  I am generally a very confident person.  But I am also a perfectionist and that was holding me back.  My new site won't be perfect. Nothing is perfect in life. I make typos in almost every post I write;)  I AM the worst typist ever. I might make mistakes but I am jumping in. People might not follow it.  But at least I can try, right?  And I am going to try my hardest!

Also, if anyone has topics they'd like to see on The Nurtured Home, please email me or leave them in the comments.

Finally, if anyone is interested in contributing as a guest poster, radio guest or expert and they have an area of expertise to share, please let me know.

The Nurtured Home will have advertiser space and I will be reviewing books and products related to parenting, relationships and home life. So if you are interested, please email me too.

I will be sure to let you all know when the site is ready to launch.  Thank you for your long and loyal support of 3 Peanuts.  I will still continue it as my family blog but I hope you will all read The Nurtured Home too.

In the meantime, you can like The Nurtured Home on Facebook here.