(Lov) // Focus.

I'm not exactly sure where all this inspiration is coming from lately, be it travel, growing in my understanding of God and His word, or just the momentum of participating in life, but I'm simply a blaze with ideas and find that I have a genuine desire to make them happen. A huge part of this inspiration has been squarely focused on this blog. I have often found myself asking....why do I have it? What have I learned over the last year after stepping into this strange and wonderful world? What do I want to contribute to it that is unique and needed in this community and how can I help mold what it is to become?  

I am not here to imitate the successful so that, I myself can find success. I do not care about popularity, but rather I care that the few people who do read my blog will be changed and moved by the quality of my content. I want to teach, and share, and document my life for my daughter. I want to be honest and brave and not fear how my words will fall on the person who reads them; knowing that I am only truly accountable to God for what I speak and write. I need a place to focus my thoughts, feelings and imaginations so that I can take them captive and hold them up to the truth.  I want to get vulnerable. I want to do what scares me most. I want to inspire others to do the same.

As you know, be.lov.ed is already broken down into three categories:

-(Be)auty // beautiful people, places, or things:: the "art" of beauty :: the beauty industry

-(Lov)e // all things lovely, lovable, and loving.

-(Ed)ification // anything that encourages intellectual or spiritual understanding

I have had an overwhelming amount of "love" entries this year, as they tend to be about my family, while "beauty" and "edification" have been sorely neglected. As in life, the love just comes a little more naturally and I need a bit more structure to bring about the beauty and edification. Go figure. So, starting this fall, I am committing to doing a new weekly series in both theses categories! That means I will be posting at least two posts a week! 

The "beauty" series will be called --Do Unto Myself-- where I will perform ALL of the services that I offer to my clients...on myself...and documenting the entire process! From waxing my upper lip to redesigning my blog...I plan on giving myself the full treatment! Not only does this make for good "blog fodder" but my hope is that this series will give YOU, the reader/my clients, useful information and an insiders look into how I navigate the world of beauty and design. For me, it will no doubt offer deeper insight as to how I can better myself as stylist and improve services. PLUS, it will obviously help me maintain a bit of self care when I most often just stick to the basics. I'm very excited to step forward and share myself and my work with you a bit more (a BIG step for me--- more on that latter)! 

The "edification" series will be called --The Grace Life-- a teaching series about biblical living in the age of grace with a focus on marriage, parenting, and family. These will not be your typical "Christian" blog posts. With this series, my goal is to simultaneously share with you what it is that I have come to understand and believe through studying the Bible and how I am living out those beliefs in my day to day life. I plan on getting very frank, real, and will no doubt invite some critics. So be it. It could also open up a healthy discussion! My darling and wise husband Brendan will be guest posting in this series from time to time. He and I have allot of "collaboration" in our future and I am so pleased to welcome him here!

I am grateful to be moving forward in this realm with more focus.  I am also very grateful for those who take the time to move with me. Thank you for reading. 

(Lov)e,

-k.