Little Lion

"Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or maybe it's because I've finally slowed down enough to let my thoughts ruminate and travel the more cognizant recesses of my mind. Whichever the case, I've been thinking alot about this passage of scripture. I memorized this verse out of Psalms when I was about 11 and just loved the poetry of the words. It sounded like it meant something deep and impactful, though my 11 year old brain didn't really understand what about the words was so meaningful.  This summer my husband and I got to go visit my grandma Joy in the wonderfully hot town of Mesa, AZ. Did I mention it was hot? My parents had rented a house with air conditioning and a pool and ceiling fans in every room. A definite oasis from the heat of June in Arizona. We stayed for a week and every morning of that week my parents would go pick my grandma up from th...

In December of 2012 I blogged about the following passage of scripture: My beloved spoke and said to me,      “Arise, my darling,      my beautiful one, come with me. 11  See! The winter is past;      the rains are over and gone. 12  Flowers appear on the earth;      the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves      is heard in our land. 13  The fig tree forms its early fruit;      the blossoming  vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling;      my beautiful one, come with me.” Song of Solomon 2:10-13 I can't seem to get away from this promise. A year has passed since I read this passage aloud to my husband and recognized it as a promise from God to us, and then blogged about it. A whole year in which life has been lived, worked, and experienced. I'd like to say it has all been positive, but that wo...

“But they’ll say, ‘Why should we? What’s the point? We’ll just live the way we’ve always lived, doom or no doom.’” Jeremiah 18:12 (The Message) For some reason this passage struck a chord with me. I couldn’t help but feel the passivity in the message it spoke….., what’s the point of living according to God’s standards? Time passes as it always does, we grow old, then die…., just like everyone else. Why should we expend energy believing in a God we can’t see, that requires an inexhaustible supply of trust and faith to believe in? These questions seem so logical if I’m looking at what’s right in front of me. If I’m letting the right here and right now be the determiner of my actions and the influence of my thought life. This passage bespeaks of a “grasp what you can now” mentality that holds no hope of a future beyond what this earth holds in our clay bodies. Is that really how I want to live? Is that how I am living? In some respects I can see a picture of myself in...

"From your head to your toes, You're so sweet goodness knows You're so precious to me Cute as can be Baby of mine" - Dumbo, Walt Disney I made the mistake of watching Dumbo. I told myself I could handle this cartoon, even though as a five year old, this movie wrenched my heart strings and brought me to tears. Every time. Not once has this movie left me dry eyed. What is it with vintage Disney and these rip your heart out cartoons?  "Baby of Mine" croons over the speakers as sweet mommy animals are nestling their little one's into the comfort of sleepy time on the screen, while almost orphaned Dumbo is being cradled by his mother through bars. Who wouldn't cry? What is almost ironic about my history with this movie, is that I love it. I absolutely love it. The sweetness in that song gets me every time. As a five year old, watching through the medium of a BETA player (my parents refused to get with the times and own a VHS playe...

My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling,  my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." Song of Solomon 2:10-13 I read this tonight, out loud to my husband. We were giggling over the apparent brazenness of Song of Solomon (I swear, we really are grown ups) and the many references to "gazelles" and "pillars" and "fruits", when this passage suddenly caught my attention and brought my giggle fits to a halt. It was one of those moments when the spaghetti noodles in my brain decided to connect, end to end making a perfect linear link, rather than the usual slippery disconnects and overlaps. I'll start at the beginning....

I have unwittingly discovered a few things about myself this past weekend: 1. I am claustrophobic 2. I married into a wonderfully eccentric family 3. I don't like being uncomfortable 4. I can move forward, even in the midst of some pretty major fall-aparts Let me explain these discoveries. This past weekend Dustin and I went on an adventure with the Mahlers. My father-in-law decided we were going to live it up in Leavenworth the Clark Griswold way (circa, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation). He rented an RV, complete with shameless company advertizing stamped all over it (there was no need to question exactly who we rented it from) and a gypsy caravan of neighbors and friends to enjoy the weekend with us. Now, my Father-In-law goes nowhere without all of the major essentials for luxury, including enough gourmet food to feed an army, party lights, extra t.p., music for every venue, beer glasses, your wine glasses, plastic cups for everyday use, and a couple of steins...

You know those moments when sorrow and joy collide with such force, you can't tell if you want to cry or laugh? Some of us talented folks can do both. Friday evening was a test of my body's ability to physically exude both emotions without implosion or explosion. It was a feat worthy of note, hence this blog posting.  It started with a show, or a concert more like, where my husband's band was the opening act. Late Night Transit (husband's band) was up and getting started and I was helping the drummer's wife corral their three beautiful daughters into seats where we could all see our men in action. As soon as the music started, the youngest daughter (she's 2) got up and started dancing as if her feet couldn't touch the floor fast enough. She hopped and flailed her arms and shook her mini rump as fast as her little body could get the actions out. In the middle of all of her unabashed dancing, she would stop and laugh with such wild joy that I couldn...