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Love Is A Verb
I heard it first said at Look Up Lodge actually. (Maybe twelve years ago.) Love is an action. Love is a verb. There is always a lot of talk about love. And how we humans can best express it, one to another. Particularly at this time of year. But even the coolest, most amazing gift, (even a Mac) cannot express our love as beautifully and as profoundly as our actions can. Even our most simple actions. Yesterday I was suddenly and inexplicably very sick. Really sick. Chills, aches. Miserable. Even my eyes hurt. It was lousy. But despite the fact that I have six children, five of whom do not…
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Home
There are just so many little things that make home home. You know? And those things are probably a little different in each house. You know when you have been away from home for a while – for a business trip or a vacation or a holiday or even just a long weekend? And then you come home and you take a shower in your own bathroom with your own normal-sized shampoo and soap? That’s the feeling I’m talking about. I love that feeling. I love that part of home. The comfortable, familiar aspects of our literal house. The parts of our house that make this place a home .…
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She Will Surprise You
Oh. This One. Sometimes she is such a mystery. Last week at the entrance to my least favorite store a lady representing the Salvation Army was ringing her little holiday bell. I gave all of the kids whatever change I had and they all trotted off to dump their coins in the red kettle. Much later, inside the store, I heard loose change hit the floor near my feet. And there was Mosely, scrambling after it. I knew right away where that little kid had gotten her quarter. Instead of dropping her money into the kettle, Mosely had dropped her quarter into her pocket. (Yes, I made her go back…
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11:00 a.m.
The alarm on my watch beeps every day at 11:00 a.m. When Kevin was in Israel we both sat our alarms to the same hour so we could remember to pray for one another and our family at the same exact time, despite the physical distance between us. Once Kevin returned, I just left the alarm setting as it was. (Not just because I don’t know how to change it either.) It has been a good daily reminder to pray for my husband. In the past when I have prayed for my husband, or any loved one in my life really, my prayers were pretty selfish. Yes, I would pray…
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My Blue Eyed Boy
Do you know what song I have been in love with lately? “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”. By Bob Dylan. Performed by Jason Mraz. And I listened to it this morning as I took my bi-monthly run. (Or maybe I should call it my bi-monthly shuffle-my-feet-only-slightly-speedier-than-I-walk.) I like the line about my blue-eyed son and my darling young one. Which made me think about my little Wilde Fox of a son, conquering milestones left and right. Eating too many new foods to count – like peas and sweet potatoes and pears. And not turning up his tiny pert nose at any of them. Responding to our voices and our expressions and…
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What It Isn’t
I love my husband. I really do. But with each year and each turn and each milestone of marriage God is teaching me brand new things about love. What it is. And what it isn’t. And I have so many more lessons to learn. A number of books and wise counsel have taught me along this path, leading me to where I am now. Books like Love & Respect and Sacred Marriage. But no book teaches me more than God’s word. It strips away popular theory and is more relevant than any book claiming itself as the most relevant marriage help book on the market. Today our pastor was referencing…
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Something About Love
Piper has a little friend. His name is Beckett. Piper is not always very kind to Beckett. Beckett will be standing still. Minding his own business. Being happy and content – a model citizen. Piper approaches out of the shadowy background. She walks behind her young companion. And then, without provocation, Piper two-hand shoves Beckett. It’s awful. I am so embarrassed by her behavior. Ashamed. What in the world? Why would she do that? I scoop her up and take her off to the other room for some baby discipline. But I don’t stop loving her. When we are done with the discipline, I don’t turn away from her affection.…
Keep Reading . . .
weekend ramble (fly tying edition)
the weekend ramble (it’s back)
hello out there.
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The Day For Fathers
First. My Father. When I was a kid I thought my dad had the same super powers that every kid thinks their dad possesses. You know, eyes forever roaming the world that can quickly pinpoint ME hitting my brother across the back with my Cabbage Patch Kid. The Long Arm that could reach all the way into the backseat of the station wagon while driving the death-defying curves of the back roads up the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Disappointed Look when my report card comments revealed the classroom sins I thought I had kept hidden. The Ability to Magically Produce Money out of the air when I really wanted…
