Sweet Irony of Life

There are 2 people who have told me I need to start a blog, the first one is Amy Abbott, a friend from college who is a professional writer and found me on FB a couple of years ago. I greatly appreciate Amy's kind words and encouragement and respect her opinions, she is a smart, funny and an honest woman. I don't know what Amy sees in me but she gets my jokes and that's really about all I'm looking for in my relationships, OK not really, but it's a good start. Thanks Amy and I hope my grammatical mistakes don't send you to an early grave. The other person who tells me I need to start a blog is my daughter Erin. If Erin ever reads this she will probably be shocked because she, more than anyone in the world, knows my limited computer skills. I am constantly asking her how to copy and paste (yes, I'm that bad), how to send an attachment, how to download photos etc. If anyone with a hidden camera could have watched me the last hour trying to figure out how to create a blog, trying to hook my iphone to computer to try to download a photo of me (as you can see, that was unsuccessful) well, let's just say it would make some hilarious reality TV, anyway I am pretty amazed I've made it this far. But the reason Erin thought I needed to Blog is because she says my facebook postings are too long, can I help it if I have alot to say?

So my first blog is about the name of my blog. I notice most people who have a blog have a catchy name that somehow reflects them and I have been trying to come up with something for months. Here are a few examples of ideas I have been throwing around in my head:
1. "A Shy Extrovert", that's fairly apt although no one believes the "shy" part
2. "Octomomo", My grandchildren call me "Momo" and there are 8 of them so that's a clever one that my daughter in law Melissa suggested
3. "Steve's penance", Steve has been serving his time for 32 years with me
4. "Diary of a Mad Housewife", already taken
Or I could have the title have something to do with my career (nursing) but I just couldn't come up with anything that aptly and succintly describes me............ until now.

I recently saw the movie Les Miserables and have been listening to the soundtrack alot in my car. There is one song in particular that really caught my attention, it is entitled, "Who Am I?". In my opinion, this is the most important, biggest question of our lives, "who am I?" What I love about the song is that is looks at the question through an eternal lens, what am I to God? OK, let me come back to that question in a minute.

I am many things to many people. I have a family of origin, I'm a daughter and a sister. I have my own family, I'm a wife, a mom, a mother in law and a grandmother. I work, I'm a nurse and a co-worker. I work hard at my job and at home or at least I try. I'm also a friend, at least I sincerely hope so. I've been extremely blessed my entire life. I was born in August of 1958 so sometime in late 1957, God (with the cooperation of Jim and Lenora) created me and sent me down to planet Earth for a time period only He knows. Now here is the answer to "Who Am I?", the answer is NOTHING. All that I am and all that I have has been lavished on me by God's love and mercy. I am nothing, but the sweet irony of life is this nothingness named Mary Ann McAtee is loved beyond comprehension by God Himself, the King of the Universe.

I am "a loved nothing".

Now if you know me you are probably thinking that I am not the most humble person you know and you are absolutely correct. I have an apron that was my Dad's that says, "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as me", he loved that apron and so do I. I have strong opinions and I think I'm right about most everything. This isn't really about humility or false humility it's simply about Truth. I know who I am and I know who God is: I am nothing and He knows it and loves me (and I might add you, whoever may read this) beyond our wildest dreams.

I am not sure what I am going to blog about, I just know many funny and amazing things happen to me and I guess I like tellling stories. I also like writing because I discover things about myself I didn't realize until I start writing. I promise not to embarrass my family (well, not more than usual). I probably won't write much about politics but I might write about God sometimes because I am quite impressed by His pursuit of me, even in my nothingness.

I wish good things and peace to any and all who read this,
Mary Ann