The Heart Behind The Living Well

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Hello friends!

I can’t believe I’m finally writing my first blog post. And for those of you who are here reading, I truly feel gratitude for you taking the time out of your day and whatever is pulling you in different directions, to pause and feel encouraged and refreshed. My prayer and hope is that reading these would feel like sitting down with a friend for coffee.

With that being said, I think it’s important to capture the why or the heart behind The Living Well Blog and how it came to be. Going back to the root of the why only seems fitting to launch this blog and space.

I guess I’ve always had a heart for writing. One of my favorite topics of conversation with close friends and new people alike is asking what their love languages are. Maybe it’s the psychology major in me, who knows. I love how words can capture a moment, can encourage others, can explain why someone does what they do, how they can make people laugh telling inside jokes and stories, how words can be affirming and showcase one’s heart and feeling for another. So, in short, words of affirmation are probably one of my top love languages. I love writing letters to loved ones, I love journaling, I love writing words in calligraphy. I always had this dream of writing a book one day, and who knows that very well could happen, but for this season, for the present day, a blog just seemed fitting. A blog capturing smaller thoughts and moments in a more present-day reality feels like the perfect way to invite others into my writing and sharing as a twenty something.

Aside from a heart for writing, I also have a deep desire to know the hearts of others, to hear their stories and to see how the Lord has written a greater story on their hearts by accepting the invitation of an abundant life in Him. In this blog, you can expect to hear stories and wisdom from others, answering questions like “What does living well look like for you?” and “How has or is Jesus meeting you at the well?” This goes back to the foundational story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well. The story that forever changed the trajectory of hearts and lives is the echoed heart, theme, and cornerstone of the name The Living Well Blog. If you’re not yet familiar with this story, I highly recommend opening up your Bible to John 4 and reading a story which not only changed the Samaritan woman’s life, but ours too.

Jesus met the woman at the well when she came to draw water that afternoon. There is significance in the timing of this, as women tended to draw water in the morning before the sun of an afternoon. The woman, being an outcast for her relations, came to draw water in the hopes of being hidden, but was met by the One who makes us fully known. Jesus asks her for a drink and the Samaritan woman cannot comprehend why he would be asking such a thing, as if she had anything to offer him. In the context of the times, this was politically scandalous for a Jew to be conversing with a Samaritan as well. In this conversation, Jesus offers to her the invitation of living water, and the promise that it “will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life” John 4:14 CSB. Jesus extends his love and mercy, wiping away her shame, and gives her the invitation to draw from Him, where she will be fully seen and loved, with never-ending satisfaction. Jesus makes himself known to her as the Messiah, and what she thought would be a similarly tiresome journey to the well to meet her physical need for water, turned a longing that was met in her heart to be transformed from her shame to being made new in the living water of Jesus. He is her satisfaction and longing. And He is ours too.

This divine encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well is something that has stuck out to me lately. It makes me wonder how Jesus meets His children now time and time again. It begs the question of where else we turn to for water in our own lives, rather than receiving and accepting the invitation of living water from a God who deeply knows and cares for us. What wells do you find yourself in, longing for satisfaction, apart from the wellspring of life Jesus offers?

The Living Well Blog is a place not only where we will dream, talk coffee shops, travel, hear stories from real people, and likely highlight favorite Trader Joe’s snacks, but will seek to know and live out the abundant life we have in Him by His gracious invitation. I hope you feel encouraged today, delight in the joy He has given you.

Talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

Em