journey thought

I was visiting with a co-worker a day or two ago. She and her husband had just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. I shared with her that Barry and I just had our 19th. As we were reminiscing and sharing how grateful we are for our husbands, the inevitible question arose. At least I hear this a lot: Would you do it all again? Of course. And yet ... there are good times and bad times, easy periods and extremely difficult periods, children planned and unplanned ... and the thougts of what would my life (or his life) have been like had we not married ... the list goes on. Eventually (and it really didn't take long!), we decided that yes, we would do it over again.

Then we began to wonder ... perhaps, if indeed we were given the chances and choices to begin our marriages again, could it be a tad bit conditional, sort of like how those elevators are set up in really tall buildings? Some often skip the 13th floor due to superstition, bad feelings, rumors of ghosts, etc. Could we just skip a year or two here and there (my preferred years would be 2 and 8 please, and maybe a couple of months of year 3, with a few weeks in year 12 - you get the idea) and still get to the same destination?

Humorous, yes. But, of course, impossible ... because the years 2 and 8 of our union (pick your own years to fill in here) are important and necessary sight-seeing detours on our journey. Sure, without them we probably would have arrived at the same place ... not nearly as well-versed in relating to each other, nowhere close to being as skilled as we are at being sacrificial and making peace (although I could use some more training in these areas), not having learned how to fully appreciate the scenery along the way ... really as two different people in a different marriage altogether.

So ... yes, I would, in fact, do it over again ... ALL over again.

Submitted by a proud wife, a strong supporter, and a faithful friend to my husband.

Jesus would ride the bus.

a song of peace

I'd like to build the world a home
and furnish it with love,
grow apple trees and honey bees ...
and snow white turtle doves.

I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony;
I'd like to hold it in my arms
and keep it company.

I'd like to see the world for once
all standing hand in hand,
and hear them echo through the hills
for peace throughout the land.

That's the song I hear.
Let the world sing today
a song of peace that echoes on
and never goes away.

our measure of goodness

from a sweet, quietly inspiring movie entitled Chocolat:

"Listen, here's what I think. I think we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do, what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure our goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include." Pere Henri

no dictation please

A conversation with a friend {you know who you are ;-)} this week got me thinking again ... about how much many of us are concerned with what others think about us. I've given a lot of that up, but are we ever able to overcome those concerns fully? I certainly hope so.

Here's some food for thought:

"I wouldn't worry about what people thought about me so much if I realize how seldom they did." anonymous

"What people think about you is none of your business." anonymous

"You only have one life to live, and it will most certainly pass quicker than anticipated. Your life need not be dictated by others' expectations of you ... influenced by others, affected by others, inspired by others, yes ... but not dictated by others." Shelley

answers

before you read this, you need to know that i have a bad attitude this week:



so i was looking online for a specific church that states its focus is on faith and justice issues.

while i'm hopeful that this is a wonderful church, with wonderful people ... i have to wonder about a statement on the website.



"If you are searching for God or just need a safe place to get your questions answered - we welcome you here".



wow. a place to get my questions answered. the problem is that one could visit a number of other churches, groups, denominations, etc. that would give completely different answers to my same questions. what if i'm not even looking to get my questions answered ... am i still welcome there? what if i think i know (some of) the answers and want to share with them, am i welcome to give my opinion there?


seems to me that if someone/some church/some denomination/some religion, etc. has the answers (at least if they claim to have them ALL) i would want to steer clear, especially if they are not willing to dialogue.


my experience has been that the more we seek the answers, the more questions we have. and the more we ask, the less the answers "fit" the questions we are actually asking.

not sure if this makes sense ... not sure if it needs to.