Hugs and Kisses

“Greet one another with a kiss of love...”  --1 Peter 5:4

I am participating in a group on Flickr called “52 Weeks of Gratitude~”.  I love and am thankful for big, warm hugs and soft kisses.  During our Sunday morning worship services at church, we have a time of greeting one another.  While a few may greet a close relative or loved one with a kiss on the cheek, most simply shake hands, and some are like me, who love to give hugs.  I especially delight in the hugs and soft kisses of children, because they are genuine expressions of love and trust and not an attempt to get something more in return.  As a child of God, I sometimes wish I could give my heavenly Father a hug, but when I consider His awesome holiness, I think I would be more like the immoral woman who fell at Jesus feet.  She washed his feet with her tears and hair, anointed them with oil, and kissed them out of genuine love (Luke 7:36-50).

I also think of how Jesus must have been with all the little children who loved Him. When we read that Jesus "...blessed them", please don't think our Lord was somber and solemn! Can't you see Him sitting with little kids just crowded around laughing and giggling and Him laughing with them? And hugging them and they Him? How refreshing that must have looked and how surprising it would seem to some of us! Yet maybe that's a key? Didn't the Lord say we had to become like little children to receive the Kingdom?

Do you know someone who could use a big, warm hug... or a gentle kiss today?

I See You

“To be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known...”

--Chris Kinsley and Drew Francis

Who turns their own face into an Avatar?  A nerd?  A geek?  A sci-fi fanatic?  Or perhaps just another narcissist on the internet.  Well, being a photographer and a Photoshop fan, when I first saw the movie poster for Avatar, I couldn’t help but notice the eyes.  Eyes can say so much, can’t they?  Although my eyes in the picture above have been manipulated, they are still my eyes.  What do you see?  Do you see a nerd, a geek, or a scif-fi fanatic?  Or do you see more?  Do you see... me? 

I was deeply touched by Chris Kinsley’s and Drew Francis’ monologue called The Woman at the Well, a soliloquy based on the Samaritan woman whose life was changed by her encounter with Jesus.  In it the girl said, “To be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known...”  When the Na’vi in Avatar greet one another with “I see you”, it is more than a greeting... it is an acknowledgment... a knowing.... an understanding.  The Bible says that we love God because He first loved us.  He knows us and has made the effort to make Himself known. [Warning:  If you haven’t yet seen the movie, you might want to skip down to the next paragraph, because this post contains a spoiler.]  At the end of the movie, Jake’s avatar body went limp, because the colonel had damaged his pod inside the science station.  Neytiri assessed the situation and desperately searched the station for the real Jake.  When she found him, she immediately knew it was him even though she had never seen his true physical form and even though he was unconscious.  She knew he was her Jake.  *sniff*  She could see him.

Earlier today, a young friend and I shared a brief exchange on Facebook.  He’s a witty young man, but he argued that I was funnier.  He’s wrong.  You’re wrong, Jesse.  I’m really not funny.  I wish I was, although I have had that occasional moment in which I’ve made someone laugh.  It’s a nice feeling.  I mean, who doesn’t like to laugh... well, except maybe someone with a broken rib.  Anyway, our exchange reminded me of one of my favorite quotes.  George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”  I guess transforming my face into a Na’vi is one of the ways I play.  Even though I’m nearing the crest of life’s hill, I’d like to think I’m still young at heart.  Can you see that in my eyes?  Can you see me?

Happy New Year

 

My husband gave me roses for our anniversary... 27 years.  May the coming new year be a time of refreshing for you and your loved ones...

Almost Christmas

“...I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation...”  --Micah 7:7

While doing our Christmas photos for Christmas cards today... yeah, I know, it’s two days before Christmas -- talk about last minute, huh?  Anyway, I took the opportunity to get a few shots of my daughter;  seems like just yesterday she was still a little girl, who couldn’t wait to grow up.  That was me years and years ago, but I still can’t wait to be ‘grown up’... perfected.  It’s almost Christmas, a day that has been set aside to remember our Savior’s birth.  And the older I get, the more I realize my need for His salvation.  It is the greatest gift I have ever received.

Sweet Gift

“And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.”   --Ecclesiastes 3:13

My first attempt at making fudge.  Mmmm!  The recipe was AllRecipes.com's 'Easiest Peanut Butter Fudge'.  It was pretty easy and didn't take as long as I'd thought it would.  Next, I'm going to try maple!

Part of the Family

“For the body is not one member, but many... And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”  --1 Corinthians 12:14, 21

 

Beneath the Snow

"And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow
your heart dreams of spring."

--Kahlil Gibran

Dried Queen Anne's Lace... a wildflower whose individual flower stems curl inward to keep its precious cargo as the tiny seeds ripen... like a mother protecting her children... or a woman her heart...