we decided that a good use of our time would be to recreate it.
for your viewing pleasure:
a productive night at home
you may have seen this video causing a stir among Justin Bieber fanatics (which is TOTALLY not us...I'm talking about other people)
I GOT MY DIPLOMA
Proving that I did in fact graduate from college, my diploma is all rolled up inside this little white tube (I forgot to take a pic with it before putting it in there. whoops. guess you'll have to take my word for it)Somehow this makes me feel both very happy and also very much like having a panic attack.
WAHOOWA!
on wearing crowns
"Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown" - Revelation 3:11
(how awesomely beautiful is it, that even when we feel sick or broken or fragile or lowly, Jesus looks at us as someone who is already wearing a crown? Even at my ugliest, I am royally marked by a Father who loves me....and that is pretty freaking incredible)
6 songs, new & old, that are great.
currently on repeat in my life:
1) Poison & Wine - Civil Wars ("you think your dreams the same as mine")
2) Table for Two - Caedmon's Call ("Well this day's been crazy, but everything's happened right on schedule, from the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt")
3) Love Love Love - Of Monsters and Men ("You love love love when you know I can't...")
4) Drive By - Train ("Just a shy guy looking for a two-ply Hefty bag to hold my love")
5) We Owned the Night - Lady Antebellum ("The wine spilled on your dress and all you did was smile")
6) You've got the Love - Florence & the Machine ("Now and then it seems that life is just too much, but you've got the love I need to see me through")
IT. WORKED.
remember this soup incident? Well, I got a very nice letter in response to my complaints, along with TWO coupons. and the best news? I can buy Kid Cuisines with those pups. HOLLA!!!
(this is the face of victory)
and I blame....
you know what sucks?
When something is utterly your own fault and you can't blame anyone else. It's the worst.
here's a shout-out to some things I hate....all of which originate from the sorts of bad habits and/or stubbornness that eventually comes back around to kick you in the knees.
1) when you really want to watch Pride & Prejudice, the Kiera Knightely version, and go to the DVD box only to find it missing.....then realize you were the last one to watch it....and the last one to not put it back.
2) running late to drive somewhere far away and turning on your car to find the gas tank on empty.
3) craving a scoop of peanut butter in your banana smoothie, opening the cabinet and seeing that you left the empty peanut butter jar in there, and that's all you have. (I mean, the trash can is a whole two steps away).
4) the smell of that Italian Wedding soup you forgot to toss out 3 weeks ago.
5) Splinters (I guess you can't really blame the wood for those. although I'd like to)
6) the resulting nausea from eating that Valentine's Day brownie when you thought you weren't full enough yet (you were)
7) the resulting nightmares after thinking you are brave enough to watch a scary movie by yourself. (you're not)
8) the resulting bruises after you think your rain boots are dry enough to give you the traction to run down the stairs (they're not)
sib poem
for my twin brother, on the day after we turned 22
When we were on car trips
to Florida we would build
walls from our pillows –
great, monstrous forts
to keep our sides apart
until we’d call truce
for a movie or game,
and sit together in the quietness
similar to all that time
before time began for us,
or life began,
before we breathed it in together.
When we were around
that same age there was
a thunderstorm at night
when our parents were away,
and Nana was taking care of us.
When the power went off
and the thunder was roaring
through the foundation of our home
the three of us sat in the basement
stairwell and I could be alright
with my fear, because we were
both afraid at the same time,
in the same place.
What is more than that
is that expression I admire
that you wear so often,
from the start and even
when I saw you a few
weeks ago – that grin like you
want to breathe in the whole world,
And let it dance behind your eyes,
Or wind it up like a clock and let it
Tick and run while you take it all
In and love it down to its core.
Jesus ______ (verb)
I have prayed for a long time that I would know what love is - that I would be better in touch with the type God created and less in touch with the type we've made for ourselves in this world.
Let me tell you what I mean by that.
I was reading through my journal yesterday and found a note that I'd written saying "the name of Jesus is often followed by a verb."
Jesus blessed.
Jesus taught.
Jesus commanded.
Jesus healed.
Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.
Jesus knocked over the tables.
Jesus invited.
Jesus wept.
Jesus died.
That's it - the very definition of that little word we like to doll-up and sentimentalize and paste inside glittery red hearts - love is a verb.
Within the past week I have seen love feed 300 meals to children who have kept hunger in daily company. I have seen love pick up a mud-covered, filthy three-year old with only underwear to wear and gather her in its arms and kiss her cheek. I have seen love hold its hands out to a child jumping into a pool for the first time in his life. I have seen love sob at the sight of poverty and abandonment. I have seen love drive to the middle-of-nowhere, Nicaragua and seek out a little girl who had cried out for fuller life, and then I watched love bring her home. I have seen love dream up plans for better futures. I have seen love shower words of encouragement as often as they are needed. I have seen love send people to places they may have never imagined they might be. I have seen love draw people closer toward their own salvation.
Love is not weak. It is not a pretty idea to keep inside. It is strong and steadfast and it fights. It is almighty and active. It is powerful. It can hand out forgiveness and grace and it can make things new. It does things. It is not stagnant.
Don't settle for the type found in Hallmark stores that costs $2.99 and the time it takes to sign your name. Seek love to its richest degree, seek the type that will shake you by your shoulders and force you into action - and you will find a Healer, a Teacher, a Warrior, a Pardoner, and a Savior.
