What's in a name?

Welcome!

This is my new home. On the interweb. I’m so glad you’re here.

Can I tell you a little about me?

I’m Katy.

I’m married to this handsome man, Jon.

We have three amazing children.

I’ll be talking more about them–the kids and the husband.

Our youngest, Joey, has Down syndrome.

I’ll be talking more about that too.

I’ll also be talking about friendship and Jesus and home and life. And to do all of these things, I felt like I needed a new web site with a new name. But why?

My first blog, Katy’s Mommy Musings, launched in 2008. It was my attempt to find my voice, to join the world outside the four walls of my home. My kids (I only had 2 at the time) were 1 and 2, and I was in the thick of “mommy mode” and needed to feel like I was good at more than making bottles and changing diapers. Through that blog, I also had the opportunity to share my adoption story, and I am so thankful for that.

My final post on that blog was in November of 2009. About 5 months later, we added Joey to our family… and 3 months after that, we were given news that completely rocked our world: our sweet baby was sporting an extra chromosome. I was shaken to my core, and to help me process, I turned to the best therapy I know: writing. I started Diary of a Zookeeper to share Joey’s birth and diagnosis story, to connect with other Down syndrome mamas, and to process my feelings. And as time went on and we settled into our new reality, it was my place to share life as a mom to three little ones–4, 3, and newborn when I started.

But my world keeps growing–as do my children–and lately that Zookeeper label has been feeling a little bit small. Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to meet and work with some amazing women–bloggers, authors, speakers, pastors. It has been incredible. I’ve realized that my ministry focus is changing, and with it, my blog needed to change too.

But… why? It’s just a name, isn’t it?

In a way, yes. I could have kept the old blog and written whatever I wanted, absolutely. But there is something to a name. It’s more than just words. It is a label. An identity.

I’ve had many labels in my life, both good and bad–student, employee, wife, daughter, sister, friend, clumsy, disorganized, loving, helpful, skinny, fat, smart, absent-minded… I could go on. But a few months ago, God revealed a new one to me: masterpiece.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.    Ephesians 2:10, NLT

I have always known that God created me and that He loves me, but he was my Father–didn’t He have to love me? I wasn’t anything special. But this… I’m not just something He threw together. I am His masterpiece. This is a game changer, friends. Anyone can just make something, but a masterpiece is cherished and adored and cared for.

I am His masterpiece–WE are God’s masterpiece. You and me both. This is the message that has been impressed so very dearly onto my heart lately. We are loved and cherished and cared for–right where we are. Not IF we do something big. Not IF we have enough or give enough or do enough or are powerful enough. In fact, here’s what Paul says about how we should live:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Romans 12:1-2a, The Message

Right here, right now. You are God’s masterpiece. Your everyday, ordinary life is a beautiful work of art.

And that is what we are going to be exploring here in this new home. Katy Epling. Just me. Nothing big and fancy, just everyday, ordinary me, chatting with everyday, ordinary you, looking for the masterpiece in our everyday, ordinary lives. As women. As moms. We are cherished and loved and adored by the God who made us.

We don’t always see it, do we? I think it’s because we’re so close to it. We get bogged down in the details of our lives and forget to look at the big picture. And let’s be honest… we’re not the finished product yet. At least, I know I’m not. I’m a masterpiece in progress. Sometimes I have to be reminded to see things from a different perspective. I have to find the beauty in the everyday and the ordinary. That is what this blog is all about. Finding the masterpiece in the everyday. For all of us.

Welcome. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and be encouraged. You are a masterpiece in progress.