First Blog

What is fetterlike?  If that's what you're asking yourself, I'm sure you're not alone.  I would like to apologize first and foremost for any grammatical errors, so please feel free to not call me out on any of them. So, what is fetterlike? Since my first choice, likeafetter.blogspot was taken, that was the next title I came up with.  It comes from the hymn "Come Thou Fount", and that song always brings me back to the small, Southern Baptist church I grew up in.  The faint smell of natural gas, the hardness of the wooden pews, and the darkness of the sanctuary with its dark purple carpet and pews (with the pews being a shade or two lighter for whatever reason), the stained-glass windows and the almost omnipotent presence of my grandmother at the piano come to mind everytime I hear that song.  In the third verse it says:  "Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.  Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above".  Honestly, I had to look up the meaning of fetter (which means to bind or shackle), and I thought it fit perfectly with my theme:  life's effects on marriage and God, both of which I feel binded to (in a good way, not like in bondage or anything, well, maybe kind of, but, still, not in a bad way), experiences with both, and what I've learned or taken from those experiences.  The first few blogs will probably be cathartic for me, as they will be about things that have happened (some of which I've dealt with, some of which I haven't, and some of which I think I've dealt with but may find out I really haven't), so, it could get interesting.  I've never been a huge fan of blogging (or any social network period) because I thought it displayed (unapologetically) blatant narcissism.  This is not an act of narcissism for me, but hopefully an outlet where I put myself out there and heal what needs to be healed, change what needs to be changed, and continue in my endeavor of continuing personal growth.  So, as I am binded to my God by faith and salvation; to my wife by our vows; to my family by blood; I will stive to be bound to this, and through this, will hopefully offer humor, consolation, perspective, and identification to someone in a familiar place where I was, where I am, or where I'm trying to go.  Well, let's begin the ride shall we?