Whom He has brought together ...

Roland Martin has his take on Valentine's day and I understand perfectly well where he is coming from. Having my hair done this day, I was given to think about it some - we have a God of love. I was reminded of when the husband and I met and fell in love.

My stylist Lynn was in with another stylist Cam. Cam was doing a lady's hair who is getting married tomorrow. She moved here from North Carolina, had met her man on E-Harmony and they'll be husband and wife tomorrow.

It was a February my man and I met on the internet, having since blended a family, having one child with each other. He was in ministry, something I recalled was told in my early teens would be part of my life. This young lady's man is an assistant pastor. They are blending a family. Their story sounded so familiar to my own.

Lord, the marriage you created for Adam and Eve give them. Have them entwine their lives with you an invincible 3-fold cord. Bless their day and bless their lives, their children, their ministry, the fruit of their hands. May the blending of their families be a sweet aroma unto you. Amen.

Today, I was reminded that God ordained the love of a man and a woman and that he is a God of second chances - not one's of our own making, but of His choosing. Don't conform your life to the commercialism of holidays - like the festivals of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's, the Resurrection, Memorial, Independence, and whatever you commemorate, but make the way you live a holiday like these pre-programmed or spontaneous in that you celebrate meaning not ritual.

As for Love:

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels,
but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a tinkling symbol.

And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing.

And if I dole out all my goods, and
if I deliver my body that I may boast
but have not love, nothing I am profited.

Love is long suffering,
love is kind,
it is not jealous,
love does not boast,
it is not inflated.

It is not discourteous,
it is not selfish,
it is not irritable,
it does not enumerate the evil.
It does not rejoice over the wrong, but rejoices in the truth

It covers all things,
it has faith for all things,
it hopes in all things,
it endures in all things.

Love never falls in ruins;
but whether prophecies, they will be abolished; or
tongues, they will cease; or
knowledge, it will be superseded.

For we know in part and we prophecy in part.

But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.

When I was an infant,
I spoke as an infant,
I reckoned as an infant;

when I became [an adult],
I abolished the things of the infant.

For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then I shall know as also I was fully known.

But now remains
faith, hope, love,

these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

T, the blessings of the Lord be with you.

It is always a blessing to spend a morning with Lynn and an added pleasure to have breakfast at Moes; but today was a blessing indeed! And a lovely springboard to a special weekend.

Did You Miss it?

That was the title of the sermon today - there were some guys on the road who missed the essence of what had just taken place. Jesus comes up beside them and breaks it down - Moses to then present-day-prophets - the Bible as it were, then.

The point of the sermon was, being on the other side of the events, Christmas - did you miss it? There are those out there who completely missed it, wrapped up in the hoopla of the times. We can reveal to them the true essence of what it was about. Kewl, huh? The husband delivered a good word today. Help those out there to understand by the Christ in you. Blessings to you.

Yawn ... do ya feel me?

Okay so when I was listening to 89.7 yet again last week, they were talking about (which the internet supported) that those who yawn in response to someone else yawning are more empathetic than others (yawn! :-)) - did you know that? It reminded me of a book I read by Octavia Butler, an african-american sci-fi writer. I really liked the story,

• one because it was backdropped in California - so even though it was based in the future, I recognized the places being mentioned. Dean Koontz, horror, does that as well; its enjoyable to envision stories in familiar venues. Another feature I like in fiction is referring to other characters, places and such in subsequent stories - Stephen King, horror, and Robert Ludlum, political/spy thrillers, are among those that do that well - its like recalling old friends, familiar memories. Another thing that fascinates me about these particular guys is their use of pseudonyms in an alter-ego sort of way. But I drigress and...
  
  
• two, because the main character was an empath. She intensely felt others people's pain. Have you felt like that - having to turn away from something because its personally painful to be aware of it, wanting to be able to end that pain so you can end yours, something that makes your joints down to your knuckles ache and your stomach sick. I have and do. If you look it up you'll get every notion from supernatural and psychic abilities to super heroes and healing. There is a test to see what kind you are. If you can relate to the concept at all, you might appreciate this poem - otherwise I'm sure it would seem silly to say that the poem itself hurts.

The book is a great story about survival as I recall; it's been quite some time since I read it. You might like it too. Ohhhh...what was the name of it? Parable of the Sower - it was the title that originally caught my eye. I see she did another parable, Parable of the Talents - the sequel. I'm intrigued; I'm going to check it out. And I just saw that Octavia died last year, what a sad loss to literature and I feel it!

keep the crunch...

it is highly rumored by my own design that I don't know how to cook (I can eke out a few entrées - however, I do reheat, an even with that I could always use some tips (I like to make things look like they aren't leftovers ;-)) - and I like checking out all the features of the new oven. So in the quest of perfectly reheating fried chicken regaining the crunchiness, I came across this article:

...Some fried foods never come back from being chilled. Spring rolls, with their layers of wrapper, will never regain their crisp, flaky texture. Fried chicken, however, rebounds surprisingly well.

For fried chicken, place on a foil-lined baking sheet and transfer to a 350-degree oven until the exterior becomes somewhat crisp and the interior is warmed through, about 15 minutes for a thigh, 25 minutes for a breast.

For small fried foods wrapped in pastry of some sort, such as shrimp purses or wontons, use the same approach but far less time. Aim for 5 to 7 minutes...
_{By Renee Schettler, The Washington Post}

The article also covers rotisserie, boneless and skinless chicken; mashed potatoes; bread; vegetables -- whether they have been roasted, grilled, steamed, sauteed or stir-fried; potato varieties; roast beef; pie, and even quesadillas. Now that I've got the hook-up, I thought I'd share them with you. Who'd a thunk I'd be posting about cooking tips?!? Look out leftovers!

sun downer

Don't let the sun set upon your wrath.

Well my question at times is - where to put it? I could sweep it under the rug or proverbial mattress. Would I be able to sleep then? More than likely it would resemble the Princess and the Pea - and be disturbing as long as it was there - so ultimately no solution.

I was listening to a radio station this morning (KSGN 89.7) and the program airing suggested to place the wrath in forgiveness. Hardly seems fair does it? I need to have it, savor it, feel justified with it.

But think - at least my thinking became:

• In this way you can give the problem an identification - what is the problem. This situation went down, and this happened, and this is how I feel about it.
• You can give it ownership, even shared - they did this; I did that; and this was beyond anyone's control.
• Now you can determine what you are going to do with your part. I will work on my behavior when these circumstances occur.
• You can share your difficulty with the other person as to these circumstances. Now (personally, I wouldn't because I haven't overcome my nature to be the introvert and just stuff everything inside); don't be like me.
  
• At this point you can decide to forgive, one - yourself, two - any others. Therein lies the freedom to let the sun set.

Sure - we can't change others, but we can go on with our life even if we have to be around them. Admittedly this is simplistic, but essentially the process. With the circumstances placed in forgiveness, we can approach what lies ahead with a more beneficial attitude which will enable me to pray for the situation and all involved with a right spirit and mind.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. _{From PSALM 51}

It was through the Lord's forgiveness that I am continuously renewed. I am going to practice that forgiveness. Surely mine will be so meager by comparison; but it's funny how its me who benefits most in the end.

Go ahead sun, make your appointed rounds; I'm ready for you today.

at Hello!

"So ... tell me how you met your wife."
"Oh", smiling, "well that's a funny story. See, one Christmas my young son, being concerned about how I was dealing with the death of his mom, calls a talk radio show to discuss it with them. To make a long story short a host of mail resulted from the airing, and my son fixed upon one particular responder. After a series of events he set in motion we met, she and I, on Valentine's Day atop the Empire State Building" - _{hypothetical conversation with the Sam Baldwin in Sleepless in Seattle.}

Sleepless is most definitely a frequent viewer for any romantic. I have no idea why I didn't mention this in my Affair to Remember coverage. If someone were to inquire of me, "how often can you watch this movie;" I'd clarify "in a day?" While simply falling in love with the story in its entirety, box of kleenex by my side, I too thoroughly enjoy the timelessly romantic soundtrack. Another such sountrack is the one to One Fine Day also from a delightful romantic comedy, not based at Christmas.

But to get to my point, there's a dialogue in Sleepless where Rosie O'Donnell - the best friend - having been told that 'boy met girl' and boy said 'hello,' asks Meg Ryan what did she say - She tells her with dismay, she could only say to Tom Hanks 'hello'. They flash to the scene in Affair to Remember to witness this exchange between Carey Grant and Deborah Kerr as she also says as Terry McKay: And all I could say was, "hello". (Watch the movie - really!) I was reminded in that moment of another 'hello' with Renee Zellweger and another Tom - Cruise, in Jerry Maguire (1996). There you have have this discourse that ends with:

Jerry: I love you. You... complete me.
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at "hello".

I conclude, romantically 'hello' can say everything!

on Yom Kippur

The dahli (under my "Bloggin Buddies ..." in the left column) has a post on Yom Kippur that is well worth the read - check it out. All of the Jewish feasts point to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Another good site is Biblical Holidays; enjoy!

the jury is still out ...

Judging and perceiving who is right and who is wrong and ill feeling conversation brought this to mind. The one who judges will say they are right; while for the perceiver, it often seems the jury is still out, leaving the judger to conclude that the perceiver is blind to the obvious truth. But is that the case? Isn't Godly knowledge, wisdom, and discernment not so cut and dried?

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; Col 1:9

Was Solomon's reasoning so simplistic when he decided over the two women claiming one live baby? Still the perceiver is considered the fool and the procrastinator. Kiersey and Briggs and Myers personality charts characterize these two traits - I see good and bad in both - hey, but then I am a perceiver... so l guess the jury is still out. A Kiersey verdict:

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong. Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view. Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly. Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.
I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me.That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.I may be your spouse, your parent, your offsping, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants,or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right -- for me. To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.

"Let's call this what it is ..."

There are a lot of movies out there from which one can draw thoughts about marriage, a favorite subject of mine. The one l have currently been watching over and over and over again - just ask my husband - is Mr. And Mrs. Smith (M&MS) with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - as an aside, the one celebrity couple l am presently caught up with (I Know, I know!). Vince Vaughn also adds much to the movie who, oddly enough, is currently rumored to be with Brad's former wife - Jennifer Aniston. Also did you know (I wasn't aware) there are other M&MS films - 1941, 1996 TV Series and TV-Series 2007-????

Anyways (my word, hmmmm... or maybe our eldest daughter's - who said this movie is more like War of the Roses) - again, anyways that being neither here nor there, the movie is a theatrical anatomy of a marriage relationship - you meet, you develop a set of assumptions from which you determine the basis of a relationship, the assumptions get tested and, God willing, you re-evaluate and make any needed adjustments.

"We are going to have to redo every conversation we ever had".

The chemistry between the couple makes the movie very much enjoyable for me - which is what caused me to be intrigued by the acting couple. I have read critics who didn't like the movie but I particularly found the banter delightful - check it out for yourself. Hope you enjoy!

Rosie (Mishelle)'s & John's Anniversary

Our eldest has been married 3 years now. They would equally be glad to tell you that tomorrow will be the anniversary of the beginning of their relationship - such symmetrical synchronism sigh. A year ago she and he moved out-of-state and now they almost have their hands on a house. They've had their struggles, isn't that the way of it; but they stick! They generally have a positive and humorous outlook on life as they rely upon the Lord to guide them.

Lord bless them that their stick always sticks and that they ever look to you as their all-in-all. As my husband often (and I mean often) recites

"And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Lord wrap yourself around them all the days of their lives.

Happy Anniversary Rosie and John!