Happy Leap Day!

I think Leap Day is fun and exciting.  I mean, I know it's just an extra day, but it's still cool.  I mean, it's an extra day.  A day you didn't get last year and you won't get next year.  It's cool, and I like it.  

I hope your Leap Day was as magical as it deserved to be.  After all, you only see it once every four years. 

Loves,

Sunday Snippets

--www.postsecret.com

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--www.postsecret.com

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"Jesus did not force himself onto people who were not interested, or who were not ready to believe in Him.  This is actually counter to a tendency we have observed in the church today--the tendency toward powerful, persuasive communication that attempts to move people to respond against their will.  Most of this so-called persuasion is actually manipulation, and it is almost always counterproductive in the long run."
--Jeff Myers, Cultivate


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"The government hops along behind its people, struggling to keep up, desperately and belatedly (and often ineffectually and even comically) creating rules and mores around something we were always going to do anyhow, like it or not."
--Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage


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Happy Sunday,

Sundries

*If Melvin doesn't quit ramming his head on hard objects, he's probably going to forget how to walk.  Last week, he fell off of a retaining wall and hit his head.  The next day, he fell off a concrete step and hit his head.  Just this morning he jumped and slammed his head into the wooden table leg.  I can't even count the number of times he's whacked his little brain on the bed frame or the coffee table.  Here's to hoping it doesn't effect his cuteness. Come to think of it, maybe this impending brain injury will make him forget how to bark; now that, friends, would be fabulous.

*My new favorite word is phantasma.  It means "a ghostly apparition" or "nightmare." I wish it meant something more joyful so I could use it more often.  Oh, well.

*Maisie snatched one of my TOMS and chewed a little at the inside.  I almost killed her.  I guess mildly damaging one shoe is a pretty good track record for a 10 month old puppy, but I still struggled to contain my rage.

*Hub got into grad school. I AM SO STINKIN' PROUD.

*I think it is so rude when someone spell's a person's name wrong on a Facebook post.  I mean, seriously?  Why is it so hard to make sure you're spelling your friend's name right?  Sheesh.  Maybe I'm picky, but I see a big difference between Sandy and Sandi or Jonathan and Jonathon or Connor and Conner or Lauren and Loren.  Let's get it together, people.


The end,

Another Book I'm (re)Reading Now...

I'm usually not a fan of Christian fiction because it seems to be totally unrealistic, and I've found few Christian fiction books that were well written.  Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, however, is a different story.  I first read this novel several years ago, and I've forgotten much of its plot, which is why I'm so excited to be reading it again because I remember how much I adored it.  

So far I've read the first fifty-one pages, and I'm hooked again.  The story is beautiful and beautifully written.  Rivers uses language flows seamlessly from page to page, and her use of imagery hooked me from the beginning.  The theme of discovering God's truth is easily plucked out of the first few pages and carries the reader's attention while focusing her on the protagonist of the story.

It's lovely, and I can't wait to keep reading.

I hope you're reading something fabulous too,

Valentine's Day

Hub and I aren't big on Valentine's Day.  I used to think that when I fell in love that this day of romance and chocolate and roses and candy hearts would be a favorite of mine.  Turns out, I was wrong.  

I think Valentine's Day is sweet and all; I'm not a total cynic.  Plus, I  love to watch people act all mushy and stupid.  (Maybe the stupid was too harsh; sorry.)

Valentine's Day just doesn't work for me because I don't believe that love is about chocolate and roses and candy hearts.

Love isn't about the butterflies in your stomach or the giddy-little-girl-laughter that overtakes your soul when your fella' says something mildly funny.  Love isn't about that feeling in deep in the pit of your stomach or the pounding of your heart when your person walks in the room.  It isn't about the cards or the letters or the hugs or the kisses.  

Love is what remains when all those things are gone.  Love is a decision that even on the worst of days, in the worst of times, even on days absent of chocolate and roses and candy hearts (which I don't like anyway) and butterflies in your stomach that you would rather be with no other person, ever.  That, friends, is love.  

And even though the candy chocolate and roses and candy hearts are an important and precious part of love, they certainly aren't the most beautiful part of love.  So, on Valentine's Day, I prefer to celebrate love without the frill, which is exactly what we did, because, after all, the frill won't last.

We spent a quiet night at home, eating Alaskan Cod over rice, and it was lovely.

I hope your day was lovely too,

What I'm Reading Now...

Night is the story of Elie Wiesel, a Jewish man who survived the holocaust.  Wiesel tell his tale painfully, deeply, and truthfully, making his pain and suffering and fear come to life.

I read this book for the first time in junior high, and I'm excited to read it again.  

A Word on President's Day

Happy President's Day, y'all!  I hope you're receiving a splendid day off from work like I am.  

I think I should preface this post with the promise that in no way am I attempting to talk politics or reveal my political beliefs.  I'm not a fan of discussing politics with lots of people because the fact of the matter is, I'm just not good at it.  I'm still wrestling with my opinions because I refuse to subscribe to a particular party's list of platforms just because those are the concerns of a particular party. To me, that is the definition of ignorance.  Voting Republican or Democrat or not at all because that's what you saw your parents do is largely unhelpful to the nation.  

What I am going to talk about is the Presidency because, you know, today is  President's Day and all.

I don't about you, but my parents raised me to respect people in authority whether I liked them or not.  They did NOT teach me to keep my mouth shut and do what the big guy says all the time; they did NOT teach me to roll over and let the government do what it would do; they did NOT teach me to be apathetic and wait for someone else to fix my problems.  They taught me to love this country and the principles on which it was founded; they taught me to say the Pledge of Allegiance with pride; they taught to me to be respectful of the system, even when it didn't work out in my favor.

I am so appreciative of all the things they taught me to believe in and do, and, most of all, I'm grateful that they didn't shove their political leanings down my throat.  

With all that said, I think the lack of respect some people in our country give the Presidency is disgusting.  I don't think it matters whether or not you like the man in office; he should still be respected.  After all, somebody elected him, and just because things didn't turn out in your favor doesn't mean you should perpetuate hatefulness. 

I'm not saying that opposing the actions of a President that you don't agree with is wrong.  It's not at all wrong; this is America, and we are supposed to oppose things we don't agree with.  I just don't think we're supposed to set aside all respect and love for our country and start attacking a person.  It's useless.  If you want to get something done, hating the President of United States is least likely to achieve that goal.  Hate is never helpful.

Rant over, 

Sunday Snippets

"The tragedy of the world is that men have given first class loyalty to second class causes, and these causes have betrayed them."
--Lynn Harold Houg, qtd. in Cultivate by Jeff Myers

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--www.postsecret.com

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Are you going to watch the Super Bowl?

I don't even know who's playing,