Welcome to my cyber hideout!
My name, Jona, is spoken with a soft Y sound, like the Ionian Sea, the waters that shaped my earliest memories.
I grew up in a small easy to miss country in Eastern Europe, called Albania, though the locals call it ‘Shqipëri’, which on local tongues sounds as rugged and untamed as it looks written down – one could argue that it is.
Some 25 years ago, my mother signed me up for free English lessons at a summer school run by Americans, so I could ‘practice my English’. It turns out it was a group of believers spreading the gospel.
It was there that I met my now husband. Through a series of events only God can orchestrate, I moved to the States at 17, got married at 19, and became a parent at 20. We’ve been living out this covenant of marriage for over two decades now. That man and those five kids of ours are the greatest privilege of my life.
What to expect
I have a complicated relationship with words. Is that an oxymoron for someone who speaks three languages? One language I was born into. Another I once spoke fluently. And a third that I am writing now.
They say that your true language is the one you ‘think’ in. Well, what if you think in more than one? That explains a lot! It’s. just. complicated.
Much of what I write will grow out of what is happening in my life. Not a blog of current events, but an attempt to stay current with the One who works all things for our good.
The thing is, the more I wrestle with words, the more I seem to find my way to the Word. Something about stringing words together pulls threads through my own soul, connecting dots I didn’t even know were there. Something about my mind opening up to truths that become visible when spelled out in words.
Truths that were true all along. Yet these words, the small units of language we’ve been given, carry a certain power. Power to shape the reality we live in. Is it any surprise though? Don’t we live in a reality created by the Word?
The Word Himself spoke the world into being, setting stars in motion and dust beneath our feet. The Word Himself uses words still, grounding weary souls and giving us a new name.
This corner of the internet is a collection of my walk with words, to discover more of the Word Himself. It is my word-ful practice of a life lived between languages.
A practice of discovering that God had been teaching me His language all along.
It is my hope that you find encouragement, hope and truth here. Truth that sets us free.