20 Years

Today is our 20th Anniversary!

I'm usually full of words, but today, my heart is just at peace.  Twenty years with those blue eyes that still make my heart beat faster.  Twenty years of hand-holding that still make me feel protected.  Twenty years of kisses and tears and laughter and  smiles.

Thank you Father God for this beautiful man to spend my life with.  Thank you for his heart.  For his mind.  For his work ethic.  For his desire for his children.  For his love for me.

Here's to...forever!

What if. . .?

I tend to think alot. Maybe too much.

Lately I've not been writing alot.  Busy?  Yeah.  Tired?  Some.  Sick?  Yeah, that too.  It just seems that I've been, ummm, rumitating on some things.   Most recently, I've been wondering about a new "What if?".  I like "What if's" - it let's our imagination soar.  It inspires creativity and sometimes just makes us giggle.

So put on your thinking cap, your adventure cape, and grab your magic wand and let's imagine:

What if we all loved what did so much that we just gave it away?

What if the builder loved making houses so much, he built one and just gave to the first person he saw? 

And the wood and materials for the house?  It came from the logger who loved to cut and grow trees.  The miller who loved to make planks.  The craftsman who found joy in making windows.

What if a baker loved kneading dough and creating bread and pies and cookies that each day, he took trays of baked goods and gave them away to people on the street.  The flour came from a miller who liked to grind wheat.  The wheat from a farmer who finds great happiness in the golden grains grown on his land.

What if a seamstress made clothes and gave them away?

What if an artist painted masterpieces to be handed out at coffee shops?

What if a cook made casseroles and gave them out to all her neighbors?

What if musicians played for pure enjoyment?

Notice, there is no mention of  "need".  If we gave away what we had to those around us, there would be no need.

Perhaps the opposite of Need is Greed.

Maybe we should ask ourselves, "What am I holding on to that I would love to see someone else have?  What do I love to do that would bless someone else?"

Could it be we have forgotten what we love to do?

Hmmmm, I was just thinking. . . .

Grief

Grief comes in many forms. Often it comes in multiple waves. It can be over small things or life-changing events. It can manifest itself as anger or tiny tears down your cheek.

No one has the right to tell another person their grief is unwarranted. Or that they should "move on." Each person's time of grief is different in length, duration and severity.

Do not insult a person but trivializing their grief. After the death of a loved one, "at least they are at peace." After a car wreck, "it could have been much worse." Or even when a precious tea cup is broken, "you have so many more."

My friend is in grief. She lost her possession in a tragedy - yet not in one simple swipe, and it's all gone. No, she must grieve the initial insult on her family's home and haven. Then she must grieve as she sifts through the rubble. She must grieve each time she decides, "can I salvage this or is not now trash?" She must grieve each time someone else asks her what they should do with the remains of memories they were not apart of yet now hold in their hands. She grieves as she leaves the shell of a house each day only to return and begin the process again.

I grieve with her. For the memories lost. For the pain she must feel. For the conflict in her heart as she celebrates that her family is still alive and yet struggles with the reality of their loss.

Only possessions, some may say. Yet are they willing to throw everything they own into a dumpster and begin again tomorrow with nothing? They can be replaced, others nod. Can she return to each antique store or vacation knick-knack shop and relieve the moment a child found a precious treasure? Not quite.

But I will stand beside. Lift her arms when she grows weary. Love her. And as the grief subsides, we will make new memories! New teddy bears with new meaning. New tea cups with girlfriends.
And when the grief comes again, we will cry together. For although the Lord will bless again, only in Heaven will we known complete restoration.

Love you, friend.

Terrific Tuesday

Yesterday, January 26th, was the 20th anniversary of our first date! David and I have been together for over 1/2 of our lives now.

When a friend announced her engagement today, it took me back to that first date and to first love and the excitement of an engagement. The pride in my ring. (I still love looking at my ring and remembering the love and sacrifice that brought it to me.) The thrill of wedding preparations and the joy of starting our lives together.

Today, I celebrate love. The love for my husband. The love that has seen us through so beautiful days and some dark nights. The love I still feel in my heart and know in my spirit each time I see my husband.

I love you, David.

Borrowing a line from the new love birds: Thank you for spending eternity with me, one day at a time!

Thankful Thursday

Wow! I haven't written a Thankful Thursday in a long while! First it was Christmas, then New Year's then back to work and now. . . here we are!



I am up to Ashley on my Thankful list. And although there's so much to be thankful today after the fire (http://www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/), I want give my daughter her day.



So, dear Ashley, I am thankful for. . .



* Your birth. We had not planned for you - you were a total surprise! I'm so glad you are here!

* Your smile. I loved your first smile - both of them (pre and post stroke!)

* Your tender heart. Youcare so deeply for people.

* Your heart for God. He loves you, too!

* Your athletic ability - skiing, running, four-wheeling! Wow! You are amazing, sis.

* Your love for your brother.

* Your ability to make me smile.

* Your toughness - you are the Girliest Tom-Boy! Precious in Pink on a Quad! And
able to face surgeries, medications, pain meds and therapies with a smile.


* The way you scrunch your nose when you smile. Too cute!

* That you don't blame me for your stroke.

* That you don't blame God either.

* That you are able to see how God redeems your pain and problems to help others.



Sis - I love you. (I like that you like your nickname, too!)

Sameness

Peace in the sameness. Up, down, dinners, breakfasts; homework, practice, soccer, piano. Smiles, tears, laughter. Pain, joy, gladness.

It's one great big package. We have to take all of it together. We don't get to choose only the things that make us happy.

If we were never sad, how could we recognize true joy?

If there were never any pain, how could we see peace?

Someday, when this mortal body is made immortal. The imperfections made perfect, we will not need the negative to define the positive.

Lord, teach me to enjoy the whole package. Bumps, worts, blemishes and beauty.

Sunday Afternoon

This morning I taught the first class on Dream Releasers by Wayne Cordeiro. I wasn't certain who would come or what the reception would be - but I'm glad I showed up! Of course, it usually goes better if the teacher is there.

Anyway, good class and I see such wonderful potential in each participant. God has such great plans, we sometimes forget to get involved in His work.

Our house is a buzz of activity this afternoon. Three girls and two boys make for alot of noise. It's the house I always wanted - the one where other kids come to play. The house is full of laughter and smiles. And lots of trash! My goodness, kids make alot of trash! Of course, three 12 year old boys eat alot of food!

Lord, thanks for this life. Let me see your hand. In people. In nature. Let me hear your voice. In laughter. In conversations. Let me feel your love. In the stillness. In the busyness. In the ones I love. THX

Standing in Line

Ashley and I started the school year off with a bang! Or rather a virus. She seems to have bounced back well, but it's keeping off my feet. I work 'til noon and then I'm so tired, I have to lay down. I hate this! I have too much to do!

I spent my morning working with the Health Team to do assessments for Kindergartners, 2nd graders and 1st graders. Of course, that could be why I'm tired, too! I shuttled kids up an down the hallways for 2 hours!

One teacher asked her kindergarten students to "get in line behind your friends!" A little girl refused to be line but stood one step to the left of everyone. I repeated the teacher's request to her and asked her to get "behind her friends." She looked at me with big eyes and replied, "No one in this line is my friend."

There's a lesson here. Sometimes we feel we have no friends. That no one likes us or agrees with us. But, where are we? Are we standing one step to the left where no one can reach us with friendship? Are we refusing to let people love us?

Lord, let me be willing to be loved, even when I feel unlovable. Let me adjust my attitude so that you can reach me. So that other people can touch me. They need me as much as I need them. THX, XO KB