Today I Went to a Wedding

Today I went to a wedding. Yes, I know going to a wedding on a Saturday in June is really NOT that big of a "news item". But the reason it's big to me is because the young lady who got married is the daughter of one of my best friends from high school.

Meaning.... this child (er, bride) could very easily have been MY daughter.

And, today, she got married.

The wedding was simple, yet very lovely. The bride married the young man she's been dating since high school (they are 21 and 22 now, respectively). They are both very mature, responsible young people. (If these two are representative of their generation, our country can breathe a big sigh of relief. Seriously.)

He is a Marine - on leave from active duty in Iraq - and she works for a large commercial property management company here in Atlanta. They're beautiful, happy, intelligent kids who have the world by the tail. And today was their day.

The thing that GOT ME, watching them saying their vows, were all the memories that were playing in the theater of my mind.... the memory of her mom, my good friend, telling me (when we were just 18) that she was pregnant. Then the memory of that beautiful baby girl - always happy and laughing. Before Hubster and I had our own kids, she was almost like our own "surrogate" daughter .... we saw her almost every weekend when she was young and would often take her out on fun "outings" (in fact, one time we were featured with her on a TV commercial for Zoo Atlanta.... ).

So, to see her today, walking down the aisle, radiant in white and getting married to her handsome Marine, really sent me for an emotional loop. I've been very weepy all day. But also very, very proud.

Love Does Really Conquer All....

Very sweet story....

Fear & Grace

(Below has been plagiarized shamelessly from Rick Warren. There. Props duly given.) :-)

_________________________

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 (NLT)

***God is watching over you.***

When King David writes, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me,” he’s not saying, “Surely only good things will happen to me!” The fact is bad things happen to good people.

What David is teaching us is that God can take bad, evil, and difficult situations and bring something good out of them. It’s one of God’s great promises to us: we can know that all things are working for our good “if we love God and are fitting into his plans” (Romans 8:28 LB).

If you’re a believer, the Bible says all things are working together for good – not that all things are good, but that they work together for good.

There’s no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in life that God can’t ultimately turn toward good. When you understand God’s grace and mercy, there’s no need to fear the future. God isn’t trying to get even with you. Jesus shouldered the penalty for everything you’ve ever done wrong or will do wrong. He paid for it on the cross. So when a bad thing happens, you don’t have to think, “God’s getting even with me.”

Mercy, like goodness, follows us in life. Picture a parent following a little child around picking up after them; God is constantly picking up our messes. Think about this:· Christians go to the future, not with a question mark, but with an exclamation point. God will be with you no matter what happens. God’s goodness provides and protects. God’s mercy pardons and forgives. God’s goodness will supply. God’s mercy will soothe. God’s goodness will help. God’s mercy will heal.·

16 Years Ago Today.....

...Hubster and I were married. :-)

'Can't believe 16 years have passed since we said our vows.

And the best part? He's still my very best friend, and still makes me laugh harder than anyone else I know. :-)

Love Never Fails

I was going to put a photo on today's blog of my beautiful friend C, the one who just got married over the weekend. But considering she's on her honeymoon in Cancun, I can't really call her and say "Umm, do you mind if I post your photo on my blog?" So, to preserve her anonymity I won't.
Let me just say this: I've known C for about 8 years. C is one of those friends that when you meet, you just immediately click with, like you've known each other for years. Not only that, but she totally and completely INSPIRES me. C is an attorney; she also teaches law part time; she has also written TWO books (and yes, these are "real" books, you can walk into your local bookstore and buy them); and she also runs a Christian arbitration service; AND (big breath), as though all that is not enough, she's the mother of 4 beautiful, well-balanced, funny, smart kids.

And did I mention she's gorgeous? And a woman of tremendous faith? And a woman of great emotional strength and resolve? And one of my heroes?

So anyway, I wasn't going to miss her wedding for the WORLD.
The wedding was amazing. Not for it's over-the-top beauty (although it was beautiful), but for its tremendous love. The place practically reverberated with LOVE. Real love, the kinds that Paul wrote about in Corinthinthians. It was wonderful. I have no doubt that C and her new husband (we'll call him B) will be married forever.
I almost never cry, but I (and pretty much everyone at the wedding) was weeping openly. Tears of joy that this wonderful woman was emerging from her valley of tribulation with a wonderful man and a brand new life ahead for herself and her children.
It was a great, great day.

"Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end." First Corinthians 13 (selected), The Message translation

An Incredible Story of Unconditional Love

I rarely cry, but I cry everytime I watch the Hoyt Team.

You may have heard of this father-son team before.

My pastor played this clip in church not long ago to illustrate (in a small way) God's amazing, all-consuming and eternal love for each one of us, as we are His children.

Take a few minutes to watch: it's really a beautiful story.

The Keeper

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a housedress, with a dish-towel in her hands. It was the time in our history when people fixed things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that patching, re-fixing, renewing; I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear Summer night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return.
So... while we have it... it's best we love it... and care for it.... and fix it when it's broken..... and heal it when it's sick. This is true... for marriage, old cars, children with bad report cards, sick cats and dogs with bad hips. And aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it; because we are worth it.
Some things we keep, like a best friend who moved away or a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... and so, we keep them close. People are made to be loved and things are made to be used; not the other way around.
So give your love to those you care about, and realize that they are "keepers".

Happy Valentine's Day

Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other.
-Rainer Maria Rilke

I define love thus: the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.
-M. Scott Peck

The affirmative of affirmatives is love.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The absolute value of love makes life worthwhile, and so makes man's strange and difficult situation acceptable. Love cannot save life from death; but it can fulfill life's purpose.
-Arnold J. Toynbee

Love is the subtlest force in the world.
-Mahatma Gandhi

Intellect, in its effort to explain Love, got stuck in the mud like a donkey. Love alone could explain love and loving.
-Rumi

Love is the only gold.
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

There is no remedy for love, but to love more.
-Henry David Thoreau

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love can be demanding, in fact, more demanding than law. It has its own imperatives - think of a mother, sitting by the bedside of a sick child through the night, impelled only by love. Nothing is too much trouble for love.
-Desmond Tutu

Love knows hidden paths.
-German Proverb

Bringing a child into the world is momentous. It means deciding forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
-Elizabeth Stone

A life without love, without the presence of the beloved, is nothing but a mere magic-lantern show. We draw out slide after slide, swiftly tiring of each, and pushing it back to make haste for the next.
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

People need love the most when they deserve it the least.
-Mary Crowley

Love and time are the only two things in this world that cannot be bought, only spent.
-Gary Jennings

Love possesses seven hundred wings, and each one extends from the highest heaven to the lowest earth.
-Rumi

Love is Nature's second sun.
-Geroge Chapman.

A Father's Love Letter

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is…Will you be my child? John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32.

The Power of One Kind Gesture

See below for a lovely short movie about the power of one kind gesture, and its "ripple effect". Enjoy, and realize that your everyday actions, no matter how small or insignificant you feel they might be, impact the lives of others.

Click Here To View The Movie!

Thoughts on Love

When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.