I have been blogging for more than nine years, first on the old mikerappaport.com Website, then on various Google Blogger sites.

It may be odd to put it this way, but I have been working to find a voice and trying to settle on what I want to say. I think I've found it with this Website, which steals its title from the Billy Gilman song, "One Voice," of which the theme is prayers struggling to be heard.

<em>"... we need some help down here on Earth."</em>

<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-4" title="maddie (2)" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/maddie-2.jpg" alt="maddie (2)" width="302" height="202" />

Boy, do we ever. It seems these days that there are more and more folks desperately trying just to get by, to pay their bills at the end of the month, to raise their children well and to be pleased with their own efforts. In the end, world events and political battles -- as important as they might be -- go right over most of our heads. What matters more to most families -- whether someone they like is elected president or whether their children are happy?

I know how I would answer that question, and that's why I'm not really intending to write much about politics on this site unless it's an issue that has a clear effect on our day-to-day lives.

What matters most?

Look at the picture with this post. It's my lovely granddaughter, Madison Nicole Kastner, who was a year old on Sept. 19th. She's with her mother, my lovely daughter Pauline, and she has added an amazing amount of life and happiness to the lives of everyone in our family.

She started walking just recently, and she has her first couple of teeth and her first couple of words. I have no doubt she will do amazing things someday, because she has wonderful parents who will love her and encourage her in all the ways they can.

I didn't know my own children when they were that age. I didn't come into the picture until they were already in school, so I missed out on an awful lot of the "firsts" in their lives. Thanks to Pauline, her husband Ryan and Facebook, we've seen dozens of videos as they chronicle Maddie's development.

You may not think this particular post said much as far as an introduction to the blog, but wait. In a while, you'll realize just how much it told you.