In the Hard Times
As I mentioned in yesterday's marriage post, my 30th wedding anniversary is coming up in just a few days, so my mind has been on not just my own marriage, but marriage, in general. I've been thinking about vows, and commitment, and the things that cement a relationship together, rather than tear it apart (hence, that post). I heard from a friend of mine after she read it, and she said something that I believe is a huge component in that cement. Consider, for a moment, natural disasters. They displace hundreds, if not thousands, of people, ruin everything they have, and present what appears to be a hopeless situation from which to move on. Historically, some have found people holed...
‘Til Death do Us Part
Divorce. The word itself sounds angry. I have two young friends; one is considering divorce and the other is in the thick of it. Both situations make my heart break in two. I love marriage. I have almost 30 years of it under my belt (you'll be hearing more about that very soon), and while we've had our ups and downs like everybody else, I still love it. I still love him. I'm crazy about the fact that we are in this life as a team, and that we're stronger together than we would be as two separate people. One of those friends asked me why I thought Kevin and I had worked out. After all, we were only 18 and 19 when we became engaged, 19 and 20 when we walked down the aisle. The world...
Beep Beep
They don't really say that, you know. Roadrunners are one of my heroes out here in Critter World, so I'm well aware of their sounds and 'beep, beep' isn't one of them. Actually, there's nothing even close to that, emitting from their tall, sleek-but-gangly, frames. What's that? Why's the roadrunner my hero? Well, they eat all the things I hate, like scorpions, tarantulas, snakes, small rodents, etc. They're fun to watch whizzing by on the property, looking through the back windows, or stopping for a drink out of the pool. They mate for life; I love that part. Also, did I mention they eat all the things I hate? The other day, there was a pair around a clump of trees and brush, which...
Truly Living
Sometimes I'll read something, and the wording of it, whether the whole or just a small phrase, will catch my attention or even take my breath away. Case in point: My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. (1 John 3:18 MSG) All of that is just delicious, but this...living truly...well, that's worked its way deep into my brain. We don't talk this way, do we? We talk about the things that will make our lives the most wonderful experience we can imagine, like making enough money to not worry about bills and be able to travel to long-desired locales. Discussions turn to easy...
Birdsong
We have a sound machine in our bedroom. It's actually pretty new, as our old clock that shines the time up onto the ceiling had broken, and when Kevin went to get a new one, they had this nifty combo version with both the ceiling clock and the sound machine. (Typing all that made me feel old, for some reason, but I'm not gonna let it get me down) We've pretty much settled on the ocean sounds, but occasionally, we'll opt for night sounds, or soft rain. The babbling brook was immediately taken out of the rotation because it made us both have to go to the bathroom, and we manage that well enough on our own, without any help! (Again, old, but at least we can see the exact time we got up...