In the interest of reminiscing a little, this Valentine's Eve, I thought I'd give you a link to this post, in which I not-so-succinctly give an account of how Jim and I fell in love. Love does not inspire brevity, I tell you.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Showing posts with label FFFF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FFFF. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday, June 27, 2008
Flashback Friday Favorites Fiesta!
It's time for another Flashback, one of my most-loved posts from the days when I only blogged about once a month, and about 4 people read what I published. There are some sweet memories back there in my archives, and I'm sharing another one with you today.
This is still one of the most tender, precious memories I have of my children. This picture has always had a home in my living room, and it will never, ever be replaced. Patience was two months away from her second birthday.
...........................................................................................................................
Bittersweet Aftermath
I took this picture while we were at Spearfish Canyon a few weeks ago. Patie and I were walking together and Jim and Grace had gone ahead of us. Patie decided to run to catch up to them. "I do det Daddeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she shrieked in joy as she bounced down the trail on a perfect autumn day.
As she bounded away from me, I quickly snapped a picture. And then it happened. Those moments that only a parent knows. One where time stands still long enough for an explosion of love in your heart. And in the bittersweet aftermath, you are overwhelmed with the love you have for your precious child. You remember anew that they don't belong to you, and the time you have with them is so very short. You remember that from the very moment they were conceived, God has been preparing them to leave you. You know yesterday they were a small, small newborn, warmly nestled in your arms asleep and tomorrow you will watch their Daddy give them away to another man. You know your time is short and a part of you wants to do all you can to keep them here in this moment forever, but you know God has created them to grow and grow and grow. You know you can't have yesterday back, and moving on to tomorrow and all God has prepared for the future is inevitable. But right now, in this moment, your heart explodes and you know for certain you have today and a sweet memory you never want to forget.
As Patie bounded away from me I knew I would hide that precious moment in my heart, savoring the time that she was just that size, and her small, chubby hands were there for me to hold while we explored on a perfect autumn day.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Flashback Friday Favorites Fiesta!
Last week I took a stroll through my almost two years of posts. You know, I really love some of those old posts, and they seemed so lonely there in the archives. So, I decided I might just resurrect some of them occasionally. In the spirit of catchy day-of-the-week themed posts, Flashback Friday Favorites Fiesta is born! So grab your maracas, don your sombrero, cue the mariachis- here comes a blast from the past...
i've been in a season of WAITING on the Lord this year- for anyone that knows me well, you'll know what i mean. but, what an incredible year of seeing His faithfulness working in our lives. although at any given moment it can seem like nothing is happening as we wait and pray, really a lot has, and going over my journals from the past year has been so good tonight- God has brought us far. if we aren't careful, we almost always forget the things He does for us. yesterday i was reminded of a thought i had during my devotions about a year ago, so i looked it up in my journals. i thought i'd share it with you here. hopefully this thought makes sense to you! it was really a blessing to me. for exposition, it's useful for you to know that when the weather isn't freezing, i have my quiet time outside on our patio, where when you sit in the corner just right, you can't see any buildings and just the sky and the hills around us are in view. at this
particular time the moon was directly above my head every morning. here is an excerpt from my entry on august 26, 2005:
"the world is turning, but i am sitting still... as i sit here this morning, the earth is spinning, the moon is moving. i am sitting. as i sit and think and pray about all the things that occupy my mind-- two things that don't look in motion- the earth and moon- are, although even as i look at them they look completely still. if i didn't have proof from past experiences to know they're moving, no one could convince me otherwise. you can't see the moon or earth moving at all as it happens- until you realize, "hey, when i sat down the moon was somewhere above my head. now it's above that hill in front of me." unless you remember where it was, you never appreciate how significantly far it has come, without even realizing what was going on in the process.looking at the moon, it seems motionless- surely the earth isn't spinning either! then bam, you realize that this huge planet/moon has moved quite a bit. it just happens so smoothly and gradually you can't see it at the moment. it seems that's how God moves in my life most of the time-- and if i didn't journal, i'd never notice how far i've been taken. all of the sudden, i'll realize i have so much peace about something that i used to be torn up about-- the torn up part seems distant, until i realize that was just 3 days ago, and now so much resolution has happened. we're so selfish as people- very wrapped up in our moments, and as soon as we move on to the next thing, we forget what we just went though-- most importantly, we forget where God has taken us to/from and all the good things He does in our lives."
i hope that all made sense. i have a few really amazing stories of instant deliverance from a struggle, and a few of huge, amazing, instant answers to prayers-- but most of my journey with the Lord has been just that-- a journey. a step by step walk where i try to stay close to Him and keep the communication lines open as i go through all the joys and struggles of life. it's amazing to think of all the times i've felt like God was not listening! and certainly wasn't changing whatever it was i wanted to change! but, it's fascinating to read my journal entries to see what i prayed about each day and even though i wasn't aware of how much He was doing at the time, in retrospect He was moving situations, bringing resolution, and most importantly making my HEART right at an almost constant pace and in one graceful, fluid motion over the course of days, months, a year, He's made a beautiful picture from the fragments i started with.
Moving Like the Moon
Originally published August 10, 2006i've been in a season of WAITING on the Lord this year- for anyone that knows me well, you'll know what i mean. but, what an incredible year of seeing His faithfulness working in our lives. although at any given moment it can seem like nothing is happening as we wait and pray, really a lot has, and going over my journals from the past year has been so good tonight- God has brought us far. if we aren't careful, we almost always forget the things He does for us. yesterday i was reminded of a thought i had during my devotions about a year ago, so i looked it up in my journals. i thought i'd share it with you here. hopefully this thought makes sense to you! it was really a blessing to me. for exposition, it's useful for you to know that when the weather isn't freezing, i have my quiet time outside on our patio, where when you sit in the corner just right, you can't see any buildings and just the sky and the hills around us are in view. at this
particular time the moon was directly above my head every morning. here is an excerpt from my entry on august 26, 2005:"the world is turning, but i am sitting still... as i sit here this morning, the earth is spinning, the moon is moving. i am sitting. as i sit and think and pray about all the things that occupy my mind-- two things that don't look in motion- the earth and moon- are, although even as i look at them they look completely still. if i didn't have proof from past experiences to know they're moving, no one could convince me otherwise. you can't see the moon or earth moving at all as it happens- until you realize, "hey, when i sat down the moon was somewhere above my head. now it's above that hill in front of me." unless you remember where it was, you never appreciate how significantly far it has come, without even realizing what was going on in the process.looking at the moon, it seems motionless- surely the earth isn't spinning either! then bam, you realize that this huge planet/moon has moved quite a bit. it just happens so smoothly and gradually you can't see it at the moment. it seems that's how God moves in my life most of the time-- and if i didn't journal, i'd never notice how far i've been taken. all of the sudden, i'll realize i have so much peace about something that i used to be torn up about-- the torn up part seems distant, until i realize that was just 3 days ago, and now so much resolution has happened. we're so selfish as people- very wrapped up in our moments, and as soon as we move on to the next thing, we forget what we just went though-- most importantly, we forget where God has taken us to/from and all the good things He does in our lives."
i hope that all made sense. i have a few really amazing stories of instant deliverance from a struggle, and a few of huge, amazing, instant answers to prayers-- but most of my journey with the Lord has been just that-- a journey. a step by step walk where i try to stay close to Him and keep the communication lines open as i go through all the joys and struggles of life. it's amazing to think of all the times i've felt like God was not listening! and certainly wasn't changing whatever it was i wanted to change! but, it's fascinating to read my journal entries to see what i prayed about each day and even though i wasn't aware of how much He was doing at the time, in retrospect He was moving situations, bringing resolution, and most importantly making my HEART right at an almost constant pace and in one graceful, fluid motion over the course of days, months, a year, He's made a beautiful picture from the fragments i started with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
