Dear blog readers...

I've been blogging for a good 8 years now.

My first blogging account (at Xanga) was started up thanks to a sister-in-Christ (Jia Lin) whom I really look up to. She was my senior back in the Royal College of Surgeons - and she was coming back to Penang for the clinical phase of medical school. She began blogging about her new season in Penang. I was one of those who were invited to read her blog as well as join her on Xanga. Pretty soon, I also started blogging, albeit irregularly. I blogged mostly so that I could keep my family and close friends updated on the going-ons in Dublin (and med school), be accountable for my spiritual walk and keep track of my journey to recovery from my eating disorders.

Although I was rather geeky and awkward in my blog-posts back then, my readers were yet faithful and always looked forward to reading more (for some peculiar reason). Therefore, I disciplined myself to blog - and I became a regular blogger even after leaving Dublin for Penang....even after all my close friends had stopped blogging themselves. To me, blogging had become a hobby - rather than an obligation to my readers. It not only afforded me an hour of immense refreshment each day - but it also helped me to grow in my faith (because I blogged about God a lot - and the practice brought me to delight in Him more and more), make friends with other girls who were having eating disorders and happened to chance upon my blog, and ascertain God's calling upon my life (will blog about that some other day). I slowly matured in my way of blog-expression. I'm thankful that I do not express myself today in the ways I was used to. If I look back at my old blogposts now (especially those from the earlier years), I will find my face breaking into very embarrassed twitches and winces every now and then! Haha.

As of today, I have "moved blogs" twice. Some readers continued following my blog... and some didn't. I'm fine with that, because I'm not blogging just so that I have followers (although I welcome and appreciate them). My main purposes of blogging today have become very different from those I started out with. More than anything, I am now blogging so that I can reflect on and remember God's faithfulness during the darker seasons of my life. Blogging disciplines me to ponder deep on the intricacies of life; it inspires me to write better academic papers, love more and live my life (in Christ) to the fullest.

And so... I would still blog even if nobody reads my blog any more! It's not as private as a journal ~ but it's already so good.

I know that there are many newer readers who follow my blog quietly/anonymously (my Blogger stats does show the number of pageviews, traffic sources as well as the countries from which my "audience" view my blog). Whoever you are, I appreciate your visits - and please do drop me a message if you can/want so that I can thank you personally and say hello. Or you could always email me at gracemelodymoo@gmail.com.

Many blessings and thanks. Lotsa love.