Marry Me? !?!?!?!

This weekend I was given the incredible opportunity to travel to Tennessee to witness the wedding of my nephew to his high school sweetheart.

Travel. From Michigan to Tennessee with my mom, dad and brother. Honestly, when we started planning, it did not seem like an opportunity. It seemed like a chore. The planning (or lack of), the travel time, time away from work = lost income, planning for family while I was gone...even if kids are older now. I hesitated even up until the day before waffling back and forth between going. NOT because I did not WANT to be there just little stuff I was letting get in the way of making a decision.

An added bonus is that one of our other brothers made the trip a vacation with his family (his wife and 4 1/2 year old triplets). They arrived the night before we did. We were able to have breakfast with them each day, go swimming, visit a museum/preparation for a civil war reenactment, go for a beautiful drive, read books, do puzzles and just hang out. It was cool to realize that there are 2 brothers and a sister for the triplets and we were there with 2 brothers and a sister (me). We did miss our other brother and sister!

On Saturday, we attended the wedding. It's warm in Tennessee! Beautiful day. It rained later during the reception, but still beautiful. I teared up before the wedding. Partly, because I had not seen my nephew in a long time. Partly, because I've been married 25 years now....not always easy years so weddings make me think ahead and look back a bit too.

As the newly married couple, made their way back down the aisle, my niece was holding my hands. She looked me full in the face and said, "When I grow up, I want to marry you!"

We had a little talk about how we would not be able to be married, but I would love her always and that someday when she was grown up she would find somebody she wanted to marry and her daddy will walk her down the aisle. She asked if I would be there. I told her I would definitely be there that day!

Marriage is more than just the two people getting married. It is the circle of family and friends that join together to celebrate the love those two people have found. We celebrate on that particular day, but also in the years to come,

I am grateful for the time and support of family and friends. Now and forevermore. Marry me? I do. Amen.


Ephesians 3:16-18 (NIV) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I Love You. Period.

Love.....ahhh.....LOVE. We seem to toss that term around so casually these days. We can "love" anything from the latest TV show to the newest flavor of chips to a 0 score in tennis. In our world today, sex seems = to love. (P.S. IT'S NOT) Love is more than a feeling and an overused word in songs.

Love also can have conditions. 

I love you, if......  I love you, even though......  I love you, but...... 

Lately, I'm learning that sometimes we need to just stop after "I love you" to make sure that the person we're talking to hears the whole intention. The ifs, ands, buts and even thoughs can come later in a different discussion. Sometimes we don't hear what comes before the comma. We just hear you would love me better if I was more, different, whatever. 

This can be difficult with a spouse or a child.....or I'm finding out sometimes, even ourselves. It's so easy to use the comma, if, and..... and not stop at the period. I love you. I love myself. I will save the other stuff for another conversation. At this time, in this moment, I just need you to hear I LOVE YOU. I will love you in the next minute, hour, day, month, year. Love is different and so much more than like. What we do, the decisions we make will not always (hardly ever) be the best. We will live and we will learn. It may not always be in my strength, but I will love you.

You may not feel love right now. You may not feel like giving or receiving love. Sometimes when we don't feel like being loved, is when we need it the most.

I looked up the definition of "love" online. There are 9 definitions. My favorite wasn't at the top of the list: unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another  The dictionary lists "love" as a noun. Love is also a word of action.


John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I pray that you will feel love, be able to give love and accept love for yourself and for others. May you know that you do not need to love in your own strength. You are loved. Amen.

Jude 1:2  Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

1 Peter 4:8  Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 

1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (PERIOD!)

Bye, bye Bionicles......

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.   1 Corinthians 13:11

I knew the day would come, but I wasn't ready for it to be now.  I didn't know it would bother me so much.  I've heard other mothers recall how they moved toward this period of time in their own child's life.  I wasn't prepared to feel sad and happy all at the same time or for the same reason.  Our kids are growing up....and eventually moving on.

The sign that I've noticed most recently is toys they used to LOVE to play with are starting to be stored or sold or given away. As video games became more popular, the toys our kids played with stayed put away longer and longer.  Usually, however, their most favorite were left displayed somewhere in their room.  The Bionicles (Lego robot looking things) our son wanted so badly and collected when he was younger were recently removed from his shelf and put in a box.  I think what made me notice the most is he didn't seem sad about it....just another day.  I don't know if he realized how symbolic it is.

For me, it symbolized him putting away the toys from his childhood to make room for the things that make him seem so much more grown up.  Laptops, X-box, Wii, etc.  Maybe I should have been more surprised that it took him this long to want to make more room for the things he now likes to do.

I think part of what I miss is the creative play.  It seems the newest video games, TV shows, etc. don't encourage us to think on our own.  The solution is usually presented within the time limit.  It does not usually require our input.  It just resolves itself between the commercials and by the end?  The answer.  Bionicles required plans and putting the pieces together in the right way...or ignoring the directions, putting a whole bunch of kits together and seeing what emerged.  They were hands on like life should be.

I find it interesting that this verse is in the same chapter referred to as the "Love Chapter" and used in so many weddings.  It makes sense that references to growing up should follow.  Our son will continue to grow up whether I am ready for it or not.  Guess I should prepare myself because I know more of these moments are to come.  So for now, bye bye Bionicles.

As time continues to rocket forward at a speed I can no longer comprehend, I miss the little boy he was (and sometimes still is in my mind).  I admire the young man he is becoming.  I look forward to meeting the man he will be.

:) LOVE day!

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The verses above are some of the most well known verses in the Bible. They are often used in weddings. Read back over them s-l-o-w-l-y. There is a lot of wisdom in those 3 little verses. One thing I noticed while reviewing is that the list for what love is NOT is almost equal to what love is!

To review:
Love is: patient, kind, keeps no record of wrongs, rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love does not: envy, boast, proud, rude, self-seeking, anger easily, delight in evil

I don't know about you, but I have some work to do! I do not always love like this. In fact, many times I'm doing what love is not supposed to be. Let today be a reminder of how we want others to love us and how we should be loving them.

I received this in an e-mail and it is a great reminder of the ultimate love:

For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life.
John 3:16