Hello there...

I've always thought bloggers were cool. They always have neat stories to tell, fabulous recipes and crafts, or a clearly anointed thought/message to share. I'm sorry to say that I won't be a cool blogger. This will simply be a gallimaufry of my thoughts, ideas, and sometimes the if-I-don't-spill-this-out-of-me-I'm-going-to-go-bonkers issues of my life. You are more than welcome to follow along, but please know that place doesn't exist to satisfy anyone. This place is for me. It's my desire that maybe a few will be uplifted, or inspired, or perhaps to just feel like they aren't alone. But it isn't the goal...for now. For now, I just need a place to share dump the things that are in my heart and mind. Do not misunderstand, Christ is my cornerstone and forevermore. He is my patient listener. He takes me into His arms and quiets my chaos. He takes the bad things away and leaves me filled to the brim. I don't need this place; I just want it. Writing, I think, is therapeutic. Call it the teacher in me, but it is. In a nutshell, I just need to literally (metaphorically, if you want to be exact) spew the innards of my mind.

And so Vita in Cristo is born! Vita in Cristo (so difficult to spell it without an "h") is Italian for Life in Christ. I love my new last name. Is so.....swirly, if you will. It's beautiful all spelled out, it's fun to say, and it's just basically one of the best words ever. But what I love most about it is the first four letters. Vita. Life. I will confess, I didn't notice this on my own.

Tony's grandfather married a lovely woman in 2000 named Terry Marquis(very French) Vitagliano. She passed away a few months before our wedding from cancer. I met her twice, once in high school for Tony's graduation and again the Christmas before Tony and I married. The first was brief and not very in depth. But the second time, I was one of her's. She made me feel as though I'd been her family for years. I got to spend hours sitting next to her on Tony's aunt's couch. She was so weak and tired (and one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen to be truthful), but it in NO way dampened her spirits. Towards our departure she told me that she would do everything she could and give every ounce of fight left in her to be at our wedding. Her own granddaughter got married a month after we did, so she had two weddings approaching. "I'm a Vitagliano. It's right there in my name: Vita! Life! That's what I want-life!" She was a tough fighter, but God is a harder fighter. And he wanted her home before our wedding date. And boy, was she ready to go see Him! That's actually what the rest of our conversation consisted of-how happy she was to be so close to Home. Anyway, that's who taught me this wonderful thing about my name. And I will never forget her words.

So we have life. We are born into this world with physical life. But to truly receive life of the soul, we must find it in Christ. The One who took our sin upon His sinless self and gave His life so that we may be reunited with God, the Father. That's a very wordy sentence. It inhabits a lot of ideas that are hard to get our finite minds wrapped around. I love that sentence. I also love the simplicity of these ideas. God made you-He already knew who you were while he was making the sun and the flowers. He knew your name, he knew what color eyes you have, and he also knew you'd be human. Bleh. Human. We are all weak and broken humans. So He sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we would be made clean. There is the life. Eternal life. I just wrote and deleted about as much as is already written in this post to further explain this. If you would like this to be further explained, please ask me. I would be overjoyed to share with you everything I wrote and deleted, and more!

So I am redeemed. I have found my life, and it is in Christ that I live.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20