{amusing}

The last few days have provided some humorous happenings. Firstly, one of our neighbors has a new dog and it seems determined to go with them when they leave. You should see that dog gallop after them all the way down the road and around the corner. Then, yesterday evening while we were watching another one of these episodes, yes we are easily entertained, one of the other neighbor dogs decided he would chase the other dog. What a hoot! Recently our cat Sadie has found a new favorite spot to lounge. The leftover little dirtpile next to a Wisteria we transplanted last Fall. Plus with the added bonus of being able to take a dirt bath at the same time, it's her own spa. Sadie's antics never cease to make us laugh.

our Sadie cat

And just this morning Mama, in an effort to help protect our computer, turned of the script and other functions. So I get on to check out what's going on in Homeschool Alumni land and it keeps asking me if it is okay to run the scripts. On every single page! At first it was funny, until I was looking for something on you tube. Well you know that row of currently watched videos that rolls over every however many seconds? Uh-huh...yeah it asked for permission every single rollover which made it nigh impossible to type anything into the search bar. So I would click "yes", type the next letter, click "yes", type the next letter, etc, etc, etc. Bless Mama, she came in and fixed it. I love the everyday amusing things that make me laugh.

Now for some exciting news. I recieved my first check from my Cafe Press store Helluo Librorum! I'm lazy today, link is on the side bar. Huzzah! Plus I wanted to show you one of the things I made for our Etsy shop Some Spare Parts. Again, link is on the left. It's a wooden bangle covered with snippets from a "Pride and Prejudice" book. Don't worry, it was a junk copy I picked up at a garage sale for crafting. That was my only consolation in destroying a classic book.


Something else I've been enjoying recently is a Chris Rice DVD for his "Amusing" album. I love the songs "When Did You Fall", which is on the music player, and "The Final Move." I cried when I heard it. Yeah, it's that good. Awesome, inspiring and touching lyrics and beautiful music. Like C.S. Lewis was able to capture spiritual truths in an understandable format, "The Final Move" gives us a soundbite of truth. It reminds us that no matter what happens, there is hope and that God is soverign and in control. And nothing is a mistake. Things happen for a reason.

It was love that set this fragile planet rolling

Tilting at our perfect twenty-three

Molecules and men infused with holy

Finding our way around the galaxy

And Paradise has up and flown away for now

But hope still breathes and truth is always true

And just when we think it's almost over

Love has the final move

Love has the final move

{to the ends of the world}

Happy Valentine's Day or SAD (Singles Awareness Day) to you, whichever side of the fence you're on. So of course I've been thinking about love recently. And watching Jane Austen movies and romantic comedies, then again I think Pride & Prejudice was the original romantic comedy. But that's a whole other topic. So...what is true love. That term is thrown around without care in my opinion. Most people do not understand what love is, let alone true love. Okay, I know that's harsh, but with today's rampant divorce rate and broken hearts I think I can safely make that assumption. I'm going to start with an example from pop culture. My family likes to watch "Smallville" and the last episode showed a complete upset to the whole Clark & Lana relationship. In a few short words - they can never be together, now that Lana has absorbed a substantial amount of Kryptonite. Then I got to thinking, if what they had was true love why don't they just deal with the fact they will not be able to hug and kiss and instead focus on enjoying each other's company, albeit from across the room. Have we been so conditioned that love is physical contact, not mutual joy in being together? And I realize that the physical is part of married relationships, but that is not the main portion. The other 80% (just throwing out a number) is friendship and companionship. Just the happiness of the being in the same room as your beloved, sharing thoughts and ideas. Am I totally off base? To me true love is being able to follow a man to the ends of the world because you esteem, respect, honor, cherish and love him. Not because he's a great kisser. I acknowledge that I don't fully understand this yet, but what I do know and understand is that Hollywood has deceived us. We no longer understand what true love is, because we have been taught through entertainment that unless it feels good, it isn't love. Forget the real reasons we choose to love people when things get difficult. Now for another example from pop culture. I recently was able to see "Enchanted" and was stunned by the scene in which the couple, who was going through a nasty divorce, was brought to their senses by Amy Adams' character. They called off the divorce saying that they realized you don't give up because of a few hardships. You don't give up the good things because a couple of bad things. I cheered, almost in unbelief, at this championing of love.

We are taught in the Scriptures what true love is. From the first example of God creating a help meet for Adam to the verses in the New Testament telling us that love is patient, love is kind, etc. There's nothing there about the other person being a good kisser or you have fun on dates. Those are not reasons for marrying and if that is to be the foundation of your marriage than you will not be happy. I have been blessed with real life examples of happy, godly marriages. My parents and friends' parents have demonstrated what it is like when you marry the right person for the right reasons. Enough rambling...I pray that everyone that reads this feels the pure love from the only person that can bestow it - God the Creator. He created everything. Us, our feelings and the person that we can't live without here while we remain on this planet.