Introducing Miriam Lein

Whether you just found this space, or have migrated over here from my previous blog page, welcome! I made the decision to move my writing to a new platform and in the process have rebranded it under my name. The title of my blog used to be: And Then There Was Joy. That title still speaks to much of who I am and who I want to be, but I also have changed a LOT since I first started writing and I wanted to mark that change. Also, as I work more intentionally towards hopefully publishing something other than blog posts, I figured it didn’t hurt to make my name a bit more prominent.

If you are new here, then let me tell you a little bit about who I am and what you may find within these virtual pages:

Faith Shift

I’m a 45 year old exvangelical writer. You will find many posts related to the faith shift journey I went through in my 30’s, a shift that affected my relationships, parenting, spirituality, and just about every aspect of my life. Disclaimer: At this time I have migrated all the posts from my previous blog here, much of which were written pre-faith shift. Those earlier posts often contain views and assumptions that I would no longer espouse. I will slowly be going back through to add disclaimers and perhaps retire some posts that I may now find harmful. Please read carefully.

My Passions

I am passionate about community, creativity, and conversation. These themes often find their way into my writing, especially when I am feeling the lack of them. I’ve been re-reading much of what I’ve written over the years and am struck by how much loss, loneliness, and grief is reflected in my writing. I am a generally optimistic person, but I do not shy away from the darkness in each day.

Clergy Spouse

I am married to an Episcopal priest. There’s not currently a lot of content related to that, but occasionally I will write something related to the uniqueness of being a clergy spouse.

Parenting

I am a mother. I have written many posts both about my children and about parenting in general. I started blogging when my second daughter was an infant as a way to keep people updated about her health journey. Emma Anne passed away at 7 months old, and the blogging continued, both about my journey through grief, but also expanding to more about my life in general. You will find her story in the oldest posts, but also will hear about my four other children. I currently have two in college, one in high school, and one in middle school, so the range of parenting experiences are vast at this point.

Art

I am an artist, or at least I aspire to be. I am in a period of life that does not allow much time for artistic endeavors. I’ve decided to purposefully devote a portion of my valuable time to writing, but I also hope to eventually be creating more visual artwork as well. Occasionally you will see evidence of those other artistic endeavors on here. These include sewing, linocut printing, and hand lettering.

Natural Environment

I have a small homestead in Downeast Maine that you will also sometimes see featured both in pictures and in my writing. I grew up in Arkansas, and have also lived in Germany, Virginia, West Virginia and Massachusetts, so there will be older work featuring those places as well.

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