What is This Blog?

My enjoyment of blogging recently began when I started The Armor of Light, a blog about my journey on the road of Christian sanctification. Writing has become not just a part of my growth and healing, but also a hobby.

For about fifteen years, I have been a self-proclaimed amateur genealogist. My home is scattered with albums, letters, printed family trees, notes from the Internet, and bits of information collected over the years about folks from all branches of my family tree. I tend to get on research kicks during which I will dig for buried family treasure, then stuff my findings into a drawer and not take it back up for a year. It can be a lot of work to hunt for hours only to find one name or date.

Chronicling is an issue for me. It's easy to jump from one family tree branch to another, and pretty soon, I'm entangled in twigs. For years, I've struggled with how to organize my findings. There are several cherished albums, boxes of letters, and even a book with articles and information haphazardly glued together. Each letter, photo, or clipping tells something valuable about an individual, something to save for posterity. How to keep it organized has been the million dollar question.

And this blog is the answer! Through writing on The Armor of Light, I have discovered that blogging is a pastime worth pursuing. It enables me to save information, be enriched and bring life to others, and keep in touch with family and friends.

History is underrated by my enlightened generation. How much we could stand to learn from our predecessors, and what fun it is to uncover the details of lives past! These folks were living, breathing souls, as we are today, and I want to see them remembered. Not only are we a part of them, but knowing about the things they did and the way they lived is fun! As a homeschooler using the Charlotte Mason method, my enjoyment of history centers around living ideas instead of dry facts. What did the place look like, how did the person dress or feel? What was the atmosphere of the country at the time, and what must it have been like to be that person?

Digging up knowledge about my family members and bringing it back to life is the point of this blog. Stories will cover my relatives on both sides, my husband's on both sides, and certain assorted friends who hold honorary family positions. Surnames I'm looking for include Burtnett (of PA and WV), Wilde (of NC and SC), McIlhany (of VA and WV), Fish (of TN), Jimenez and Quintero (my Cuban relatives), Blocker (of Walterboro, SC), Aull (of SC), Hannah (of IN and NC), Nordsiek (of NY), Pearson (of IN), Brown (of IN), Skinker, Wygal (of VA), and countless others. Time to start digging!