Why the blog, why the title?

As most of you know, I have recently felt the calling of God to live in Asheville and I am moving there on the 15th. I started to sense God's calling a year ago after I visited Asheville for the first time since I was a kid. It was the summer of '06. I was working at a camp called "Crossroads Worldwide." I had heard that there is a drum circle every Friday night in downtown Asheville, so I convinced a couple of staff to drive up to Asheville for the night to check it out. I lovingly call Asheville "Hippie Town USA." I can remember in high-school being drawn towards the whole hippie/granola culture. I would take trips to Boone with friends (another NC hippie-mountain town) and just marvel at the people and the culture, like a kid staring at a window display of shiny new toys. I know most of this sounds pretty strange, but what can I say, sometimes God's calling is stange. No - MOST of the time his calling is strange. My point is that even from a young age I can see God preparing me and placing a love in me for a certain kind of people. Although I loved this culture, I always felt like an outsider. In high school I played tennis and wore American Eagle t-shirts. I still like to play tennis, but I'd rather play ultimate frisbee. I have undergone a pretty major transformation since those days. I went to college and my world was turned upside down. It was definitely a "spread your wings" experience for me. I had the chance to really search out who I was and who God was making me. To make an incredibly long story short, I no longer feel like an outsider to the granola culture.....at all! And, I have been set free from the deadly trappings of religion. I still have lots to learn and more freedom to gain. I am not going to Asheville with an agenda or to save anyone. Had I gone in high-school, I would have gone as a conservative crusader there to save the "sad" new-age, homosexual, liberal people. Now, I'm just going because I'm supposed to. I'm going to learn more about who Jesus is and where he is. He is always in the most unexpected place. I'm going to learn more about love and the way of the Cross. I chose the title of this blog because it speaks to the place that I'm at in my life right now. I am being awakend to the great JOY of knowing Jesus. It's not a burden. Indeed his yoke is easy and his burden light. It's a burden that makes me want to dance and shout and smile and kiss a total stranger smack on the lips (like the famous picture of the soldier at the end of WWII). For too long, I have not known God. I thought he was angry and stiff and dissappointed at my every mistake. But I am learning that the God I serve is a God that is truly worthy of praise. Joyful praise. Because He is the God of the Cross and of limitless mercy, grace and love. And that's real folks, it's not just an idea. SO - welcome to my blog of my awakening joy in Asheville, NC.

God's peace,
Nicole

"The living presence of Jesus awakened joy and set people free. Joy was in fact the most characteristic result of all His ministry to ragamuffins." ~ Brennan Manning, THE RAGAMUFFIN GOSPEL