Love means believing in someone

Love takes time. It needs a history of

giving and receiving, laughing, and crying.

Love doesn’t promise instant gratification,
only ultimate fulfillment.

Love means believing in someone, in something;
it presupposes a willingness to struggle,
to work, to suffer, and to rejoice.

Love is doing everything you can to help
others build whatever dreams they have.
Love is doing everything you can to help
others build whatever dreams they have.


Love is on a constant journey to what others
need. It must be attentive, caring, and
open, both to what others say and to what
others cannot say.


Love will never reject others. It is the
first to encourage and the last to condemn.

Love is a commitment to growth, happiness,
and fulfillment of one another.


-Adapted from Barb Upham

If an old man can smile, you can too.

He's seen life, he knows how it is. -And he can still smile at it.

What's there when nothing else is?

There's a part in the "August Rush" movie that made my eyes widen, my heart skip a lil beat and an expression of realization wash over my face.
Lois was talking to Evan, the little boy, and told him: "Never leave your music, never forsake it. Because when there's no one and nothing else, your music will be there, a safe refugee where you can go to and find strength to live on again. I learned that the hard way."
To me, the one thing that has been my refugee time and again, in the worst moments I've gone through, as well as the good, has been Jesus.
Seeing it this way, no one would ever dream of abandoning the one thing that will be there for them when nothing else can.
For those of us who want to keep our sanity, our wholeness, our living life, Jesus is not just the only thing that can keep us together come what may, but also the only thing that will be there when all else deserts us...how could we ever think of deserting Him..?! -He lives to give us His all.

With Sandy

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away." -It describes it perfectly.

I'm beyond lucky to have such a friend as you!

Love your life..as it is

Today I read, in the pages of a book called "Love your Life" :

"Not everything needs to be perfect before we start enjoying life."

It seemed to be written for me, just for me. But I know it can make a difference in the way you look at life too, the way you live it and how much you enjoy it.
Mental note: Write that quote on your forehead...oh right, you won't see it that way lovely dork. True, true..must come up with a better plan. -nods-
...It'd be nice if I could remember it with each smile.
I could write it on the forefront of my mind. -smiles-

Happy Birthday Ali!

Dearest Ali,
Thank you for existing.
Thank you for bringing your kids to Earth, for mothering them, loving them like only you can and fighting for them.
Thank you for being as wonderful as you are.
Thank you for all your smiles and hugs, for your interest, words of advice and reassuring looks.
Thank you for your gifts of love.
Even through the smallest things I could see in you a real fighter, a no-giving up person, full of love, someone admirable!
You mean lots to me!
I know you're a busy woman and you probably won't see this till way after you've settled in your new home and things stabilize a little. I just want you to know that I love and pray for you and I miss you and your children like crazy!
I also miss Nate, that's for sure :P
Have a Happy Birthday! I wish you the best year, the desires of your heart met, the victories you need won, and love to overflowing!
with love, Steph.

P.S. Send kisses to the cuties.

In love with You

Why am I in love with you?

Because I can't resist the thought of your melting smile.
Because I don't have to work up love when I see or envision you.
Because you know me so well.
Because even though you can see everything with magnificent clarity and balance, you're not impatient when pettiness clouds my view.
Because you understand.
Because giving me what I need and truly want is a top priority in your list.
Because you're perfect.
Because you created bliss and chocolate, worlds to enjoy.
Because I can experience my earthly life with you.
Because you loved me more than your own life.
Because your love for me grows with each passing day.
Because you're not my imagination or a fruit of any fantasy.
Because you're hot, sexy and kind, you're all I could want in a man.
Because you're strong enough to carry me and the rest of the world and universe on your broad shoulders.
Because you know how to make me the happiest.
Because there is no need for secrets between us.
Because you dance.
Because it's not within me to live without you.
Because no one is better than you.
Because we can be together wherever I happen to be.
Because your eyes are the deepest oceans of love.
Because you give me a reason to be.
Because when I'm with you I want nothing else.
Because you satisfy me.

Written somewhere around February 2009, in a JEAN notebook, with little doodles on the edges.
I can tell you now again, with greater boldness.

If it weren't for You, I wouldn't be living today.
Thanks Love. Thank you, Jesus.
"Never doubt in the darkness, what God has shown you in the light." Help me with that.

The Scarlet Letter

This account always had an impact on me, every time I read it, the story of how this novel came to be.

When Nathaniel, a heartbroken man, went home to tell his wife that he was a failure and had been fired from his job in a customhouse, she surprised him with an exclamation of joy.
“Now,” she said triumphantly, “you can write your book!”
“Yes,” replied the man, with sagging confidence, “and what shall we live on while I am writing it?”
To his amazement, she opened a drawer and pulled out a substantial amount of money.
“Where on earth did you get that?” he exclaimed.
“I have always known you were a man of genius,” she told him. “I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece. So every week, out of the money you gave me for housekeeping, I saved a little bit. So here is enough to last us for one whole year.”
From her trust and confidence came one of the greatest novels of American literature, The Scarlet Letter.
-Nido Qubein

It makes me think of what a difference it can make when you believe in someone and when you help yourself and others even when no one notices your efforts, love always pays off.

Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne

I looked up both of their biographies and found this:
Together the couple etched their impressions of their new married life in the glass of a window in the study using Sophia's diamond ring:

Man's accidents are God's purposes. Sophia A. Hawthorne 1843
Nath Hawthorne This is his study
The smallest twig leans clear against the sky
Composed by my wife and written with her diamond
Inscribed by my husband at sunset, April 3, 1843. In the Gold light.

..."'Man's accidents are God's purposes."

Isn't Nathaniel soo handsome?!
-bright lil smile-

Dear!

Dear Ali, Nalies, Mari, Megs, Steph, Windy, Teresa:
Your blogs are dear to my heart! And dearer than cupcakes!
I love it how you share your thoughts, the happenings in your lives -as simple as they could seem to you. I enjoy the pictures you post, and having this way to stay in touch with your lives and your thoughts. They're important to me. Keep it up. Some of you may be criminal bloggers, a bit like myself. That you make the time to post out of your busy/crazy lives is the sweetest!
Just making sure you know that I love you, and those blogs of yours.
Hug yourself for me. I miss you!

Believe in yourself

Friday night my friendlies rented a movie. I must've watched it about 5 or 6 times -I decided 7 was an exaggeration.
Honey, I tell you, if you haven't watched it, you must!
But more than remembering to do that, it'd be the best if you could remember this:
Believe in yourself.
Believe in what you can do, even if ppl doubt you.
Believe that you can do it, even if you're met with opposing obstacles. Make them work for you as stepping stones to a higher goal and purpose.
That's something I want to do: gain confidence, believe in myself. I surely can't do things alone, not all alone. But I was created to win and succeed, so I might as well make good use of it, and with God's help I'll do it!

God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty' -1Corinthians 1:27

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.—Bruce Barton

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.—B. C. Forbes, American publisher

Will you please do something for Me? Will you please believe in yourself for Me? My Word lives in you, and as long as you are loving Me, loving My Word, praying and obeying Me as you so faithfully do, you can believe in yourself, because I dwell in you. —The God of the Universe.