{About}

Welcome to Petunia June. I'm so glad you've dropped by for a visit.  Pull up a chair and I'll put the kettle on.

Oh -- why is my quiet little corner of blogdom called Petunia June? I'm glad you asked.

You see, I'm a very sentimental girl. When I was a wee thing in pigtails merrily skipping down the hallway, my maternal grandmother -- my Noni -- called me Petunia. I loved the way it sounded and frequently chanted, "Petunia! Petunia!" in time to my pattering steps.

The June is from my dad's side of the family. When I was born, my cousin (a toddler at the time) had trouble saying the "l" in Julianna. His adaptation caught on, and my family often called me "Juni-anna." This eventually morphed into Juni, which further morphed into June. Nicknames have a way of doing that. Most of my family still call me Juni . . . or June . . . or Jewels. Because nicknames have a way of doing that.

So Petunia June is the essence of me. My heritage, my family, my youth and my adulthood all wrapped into one.

It's the girl who, once upon a time, fell in love with a boy named Jamie in Sunday School. She dreamed of the day when they would one day marry. They did.

It's the girl who still feels like she's playing house, even though she's raising four children. (Children who very obligingly alternated genders for a touch of variety: Boy, girl, boy, girl.)

It's the girl who grew up with heroines such as Anne Shirley, Laura Ingalls and Jo March and frequently donned appropriate frocks with her sister to celebrate and reenact eras from long ago. (Correction: she still dons pioneer frocks whenever possible.)

It's the girl who often has her nose in a book and a cup of tea nearby -- even more so on crisp fall days that beg for a crackling fire to warm the room. (Because fall is the most perfect time of year.)

It's the girl who writes from time to time. A blog post here, a journal entry there. She's not terribly consistent. She's more of an attack writer. (Who is, I'm afraid, overly fond of parentheses . . . and ellipses.)

It's the quiet, somewhat introverted girl who loves to stay at home but is thankful for the kindred spirits that God has placed in her life. Spirits whose nurturing influences encourage her to branch out, laugh and grow.

It's the girl who loves calico aprons, thrift shopping, hot soup, family movie night, libraries, mixing bowls and her Mom's ravioli. She loves little fingers at the piano, her husband's laugh, smocked dresses, birdsong across the treetops, camping in the Gorge, impromptu puppet shows and the surprise of snow. She delights in teacups and paper dolls, chocolates and puzzles, Mozart, lilacs and freshly sharpened pencils.

Above all, however, Petunia June is the girl who basks in the glow of her heavenly Father's love, knowing that He delights in her and rejoices over her with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). This is not because of anything that she's done or earned or deserved (like Jo March, she's "hopelessly flawed"). But He rejoices and dances and sings because that's how our God loves. Fully and perfectly.

So thank you for coming to spend some time with Petunia June. My prayer is that as you read the pages within this blog that you, too, will know and bask in the love of our heavenly Father and that His love will stir within your heart a passion to worship and serve Him all the days of your life.

Julianna Lawson