Step one in creating a new blog.

I decided I would start a new blog several months ago.

I kept a Livejournal throughout years 9 and 10, before upgrading to an MSN space in years 11 and 12, with both experiences proving to be quite beneficial for me, I believe. They allowed me to share my thoughts in a concrete, readable way, as well as develop the writing style that I continually endeavour to perfect.

But somewhere along the way, I stopped the process of writing, and haven't written anything of substance (that isn't required for uni, at least) since my schooling days. Granted, those days were only a year and a half ago, but it seems like an eternity in any case.

Hence my deciding to start a new blog, at the end of last year. It was all planned out: I would write my thoughts out about life, the universe and everything; people would read and be edified and come to see me as a grand purveyor of wisdom; I would get picked up by a publishing company and become a world-renowned author. It was a grand plan that was to be a surefire success.

The trouble with writing about life, the universe and everything, however, is that there's an awful lot of it. (That and the fact that the very phrase "life, the universe and everything" is probably copyrighted by Douglas Adams, of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fame)

In order to start a blog, I needed a reason to write. Something to inspire me to write continually. Something to make people want to come to the site. In short, I needed a really witty tag-line.

For example, perhaps the biggest blogging inspiration to me (you can find his link on the right) has "Informing the Reforming" as his. Look at that phrase. It's short, it's succinct, and it RHYMES. I happen to know for a fact that it took dozens, nay, hundreds of suggestions for Tim to come up with that line to replace his old one ("Putting the fun in fundamentalism" - another genius line in and of itself!). My recommendation to him involved two fantastic anagrams of "Challies' book on spiritual discernment", but it seemed the short, pithy saying won out. And I have no hard feelings about that. Not many, anyway.

Try as I might, I simply could not come up with a witty tag-line for my own blog. And as such, I couldn't start my blog! It was impossible! How can you blog without a witty tag-line?!? Thus, the blog just sat there, unused, for five months.

Then, as I was playing Peggle on my iPod, and listening to a song, it hit me. A few thought processes that I'd been going through over the past few days, months and even years all combined into this one idea that I decided I would use to start the inspiration-ball rolling. What was the song, I hear you ask?

"You are Holy", sung by VeggieTales.

It was this song that made me realise a lot about myself, a lot about Christianity, a lot about life in general. And most people probably haven't even heard it. I'll explain more about it in subsequent posts, but suffice it to say here, it inspired the title for this blog.

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." says Jesus in Matthew 18:3-4.

What on earth does it mean to become "like a child"? I don't know all the answers to that question; in fact, I'm pretty sure no one reeeeeally knows all that Jesus was talking about. But it's been my goal for many years now, and that's a pursuit that I'd like to share with other Christians. That's a pursuit that we should all be after.

That's a pursuit worth naming a blog after.

It's not quite as witty as it could be, and it doesn't rhyme, but I like it. Because it sums up so much in so few words, so much that hopefully this blog will serve to unpack. Needless to say, this blog will hardly be just about that one verse - have you ever had a conversation with a kid and tried to keep them on track with one topic? Similarly, this blog will cover anything and everything that I care to think or write about. But hopefully, hopefully that pursuit of childlikeness in God's sight will pervade all that I am, all that I write, and all that I long to be.

Let's do this thing.