I’m an extrovert, but I have plenty of introvert tendencies. Officially, my personality falls in the extroverted category, but it’s only a moderate advantage over the introverted version. I like to plan and host parties. I get my emotional fill from being around those closest to me. But after prolonged socializing, I like to retreat for a short time. I don’t like speaking in front of crowds.

So when I was invited to share our adoption story on the local Christian radio station last week, my immediate reaction was mixed: Yes, I’d love that opportunity. But it’s totally out of my comfort zone.

I’ve long considered myself a writer, but certainly not a speaker – mostly because my hands get clammy and I worry about the words that’ll come out of my mouth. When I write, I can draft words. Speaking has always seemed to require confidence in the first verbal draft.

Here’s a small world story. Eddie invited me on the radio. I know Eddie because when he left the Murray Ledger & Times, I was hired. So we’re both former reporters who occupied the same desk in the same newsroom at one point. He went onto do a couple of those jobs, settling in at the radio station. I’ve been mothering and freelancing and doing various other projects.

When I got into his radio studio Wednesday morning one of the first things he said to me calmed my nerves: When I wrote at the Ledger and made a mistake, it was out there in print. Now if I make a mistake, it’s out there and then gone. Of course, I’m still more confident writing, go figure.

I appreciated his perspective, even though in my head, I know people sometimes hear and remember more than we think they do. But the mistakes aren’t staring you in the face when you speak into a microphone in a small studio without an audience staying you in the face. And by you, I mean me. So, really, the radio interview was so much better than speaking to an actual audience. Of course, when my time was up, I got some texts, phone calls, and Facebook comments that helped define who my audience had been.

Anyway, the radio interview was a good experience. Eddie asked me about our adoption story and my book and I talked about how writing the story was therapeutic, how I hope the book encouraging others, how adoption helped build my faith, how the book on sale this month, and where to find my words on my blog, on Facebook, and on Amazon. {And this month

I wish I had asked him if we could record the interview. I wish I had remembered to take a picture. But those details slipped my mind when I was getting myself ready to speak words into a microphone for who knows who in western Kentucky to hear.

And speaking of my extroverted ways that have introverted tendencies, I’m having a Facebook party! I’d love for you to mark your calendars {because, yes, planning is part of my personality too!} to join me on my Facebook page on Monday, Nov. 17 from 8 to 9 p.m.

It’s the best of both worlds – a party with interaction and conversation but without having to get out of your soft pants or even brush your hair. There will be discussions to join, prizes to win, and new friends to meet.

Not that a reason is actually necessary, but I’m having a Facebook party now because I have multiple things to celebrate ::

• Lisa Larson of The Copper Anchor made my blog so pretty. 
• I’m thrilled to be hosting the Three Word Wednesday link up that my dear friend Beth entrusted to me. 
• My ebook is on sale this month because it’s National Adoption Awareness Month. I know some of you may be tired of hearing about it, but it’s my favorite to story to tell so I’m enjoying sharing about it now that the project is finished and out there.

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Want more stories? “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family” is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin’, or subscribe to receive “Insights in Your Inbox.”

My hometown sits on the sprawling edge of a big city, my state’s biggest, actually. Yes, I lived in a rural community as a kid, but I didn’t know anything about actual country living until I married Greg. Many years ago, his parents built their dream home on a farm just south of the Kentucky-Tennessee state line, where my cell phone doesn’t usually work and sometimes a key road sign is laying down after a storm. The well water tastes good and the view of natural beauty calms my soul.

And my kids really like it there too.

Sometimes in the afternoon at our own house in town, they ask to watch movies and play games on a my phone. I tell them to go play with something else and each other instead. They usually do. But it’s like they can’t figure out what they want to do. They have toys, more toys than any kid needs. Ben wants to disrupt Cate’s creative energy of drawing and writing and coloring. And Cate wants to know what’s happening next and how her little brother can be properly occupied until she’s ready to play with him.

Thankfully, it’s been nice out, so they’ve found entertainment with each other out in the back yard. It’s a taste of what it’s like out on Gran-Gran’s farm. {I also thought “farm” applied to animals, but now in my small town farther away from any major city limits I understand it can also mean large pieces of land. Although, Greg’s dad did once have cows, which have made of many family stories.}

Out on Gran-Gran’s farm, the kids seem more willing to run and play and explore and share and imagine. I can read and dream out there while hearing my kids playing in the distance. There is room there. Room to roam. Room to think. Room to slow down.

{This is where we recently celebrated Easter, which is when the joy-filled four-wheeling picture above was snapped, and Greg’s 35th birthday.}

Yes, this surprises me, the girl who thought her dream was live in the hustle and bustle of a big-city newsroom. I’m not sure I’d hear the giggles and impromptu playing, see the smiles and relaxed interaction, or experience the peace like I do on Gran-Gran’s farm had I not surrendered my life to the One who knows my dreams better than I do myself.

I feel created for this life. The one right here in a small town on the winding edge of farmland. The one with these people who call me wife, momma, Aunt Kristin, daughter and friend. And even though I know this is where I’m meant to be, I still find myself pleasantly surprised.

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I’m linking up with Kristen at Chasing Blue Skies. This is the third in what has become a little mini-series on my small-town life. {The other two are A Good Goodbye and Jumping In.} Obviously, the fact I love where I am continues to surprise me. 

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