An Open Anniversary Letter to My Man
We were so young, weren't we, when this all started? Barely 18 and 19, when I accepted that first date at Dalt's, surrounded by all our high school friends that first Thanksgiving of our college careers. We were friends for a couple of years before that, meeting in Mr. Moore's history class at Vines High School, but both spending the remainder of those high school years dating other people. Not long after that first date, we made our first public appearance at Jami Heaton's New Years Eve Party. I remember being so excited to go, and show off the necklace you had given me the week before, for Christmas. A gold disc engraved with "Loving You Always." I remember being embarrassed when I came...
His Words (for understanding prayer)
Every Sunday around here is for His Words instead of mine. Does the subject of prayer confound you? Why should you pray? How should you? He has something to say about that (and you'll find a couple of different translations of the Lord's Prayer than what most of us have heard, or been taught, to provide better understanding of what it's saying). “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at...
All Up In It
I'm sitting in Kevin's new office, just down the hall from his former corner office suite that waits for its new occupant. It contains some of the furniture that he used for the last four years, along with a different desk, since Kevin's is personally owned. Since his retirement from that position, we've wondered about the new Managing Partner. What would they be like? Would they be a good fit for the office? Would they lead with integrity, and with the agents' best interest at heart? And, finally, would the fact that Kevin is still a part of the office be a point of contention and posturing, or be embraced as a plus? We didn't know, nor did we have any control over it. We prayed...
His Words (for when you don’t know what to do)
Every Sunday around here is for His Words instead of mine. Faced with challenges, or big decisions, that have you coming up empty? Read on. Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life. ~ James 1:12 MSG If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s...
On Coming Full Circle
We sat there all day, my man and I, in our den-turned-office, across from one another at our new partner's desk. He was doing phoning and planning; I was setting up social media, and working through correspondence. We alternated between constructive conversation and companionable silence, and during the latter, I would sneak glances at him with his cheaters perched on his nose, and his silver curls glistening in the window light. I had been in the same position before, some 28 years ago. His hair was a dark brown, and mine, an honest version of the same color. We were babies, really. Babies with a baby of our own, sleeping down the hall, as we sat across from each other at our...