"As a man is, so he sees"

In her Brain Poppings blog, Maria Popova brings us these words from painter William Blake.

Fun I love, but too much fun is of all things the most loathsome. Mirth is better than fun, and happiness is better than mirth. I feel that a man may be happy in this world. And I know that this world is a world of imagination and vision. I see every thing I paint in this world, but everybody does not see alike. To the eyes of a miser a guinea is far more beautiful than the Sun, and a bag worn with the use of money has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes. The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my proportions; and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself. As a man is, so he sees.

Maria adds the thinking of Anne Truitt.

We claim autonomy for ourselves and forget that in so doing we can fall into the tyranny of defining other people as we would like them to be. By focusing on what we choose to acknowledge in them, we impose an insidious control on them. I notice that I have to pay careful attention in order to listen to others with an openness that allows them to be as they are, or as they think themselves to be. The shutters of my mind habitually flip open and click shut, and these little snaps form into patterns I arrange for myself. The opposite of this inattention is love, is the honoring of others in a way that grants them the grace of their own autonomy and allows mutual discovery.

Read more here.

What is Love?

Guest post by Suzann Darnall

In February it is hard to not have one's thoughts turn to love. Surrounded during the first two weeks by hearts and cupids and preparations for Valentine’s Day, it is impossible to not have love fill the air and even a portion of one’s brain. But, in reality, what is love?

The definitions of love, from an online dictionary, include 1) an intense feeling of deep affection, 2) a great interest and pleasure in something, 3) feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone. But, I have found that love is so much more than that.

Sometimes love is about flowers, chocolates, and candlelight dinners. It is hugs-n-kisses, walks in the moonlight, and bouquets of flowers. It is about poetry and romance. It is all very sweet and quite pretty. Just not necessarily all that love can be.

Sometimes love becomes a bit more permanent as one goes from dating to courtship to marriage. Romantic dinners out become quiet dinners at home, which can become family dinners after a baby or two arrives. But, even weddings, family dinners, and raising children is
not the be all end all definition of love.

There is, of course, the pure love of Christ, known as charity, but that is another topic for another time. While it is often incorporated to many of the others kinds of love that can occur, it is not where I am headed with my thoughts right now.

I am finding that love is an ever evolving emotion AND relationship AND word. Love is sooo much more than I ever realized before. And, I am seeming to learn new things about it each day. New ways to love and to be loved.

Love is a daughter who regularly feeds your horses and barn-cats, plus lets your dog out for potty breaks on chemo days. Love is daughters taking you out for dinner, bringing food to the house, snacks to the hospital, or sending home leftovers after a delicious meal.
Love is a daughter who sits in on chemo session ‘cause she worries. Love is two daughters who want updates on everything that might be affecting Mom and Dad as we all deal with this cancer-chemo journey.

Love is a father coming to spend time with you to help while your husband is in the hospital following major surgery. Love is a mother coming to visit and spending an entire day spoiling you ‘cause you are a full-time caretaker for your husband. Love is siblings sending sweet cards, texts, emails, and Facebooks messages for you and your husband. Love is cousins and other family members wanting updates about my husband’s health and sharing messages to let us know they care.

Love can be a friend who texts you each day just to let you know they care. Love can be a friend who makes sure your sick husband’s name is kept on the prayer roll. Love can be several internet friends letting you know regularly that they are praying for you and for your husband. Love can be a friend crying with you in the temple as you share your fears on the cancer/chemo journey you are traveling with your husband.

Many from church show us love with prayers and blessings. They bring the Sacrament if we cannot make it to church. They do service like clearing fallen branches or moving bags of grain. Do favors like loaning a trailer to haul hay, making cards that I can give a sick husband to cheer him up, or bringing a delicious hot drink mix that makes him feel better.

Love is a sick husband who has very little energy some days, but uses a bit of it to help you empty the dishwasher. Love is a husband who tells you each day how grateful he is for your tending to his needs. Love is having him seek you out just to give you a hug on a bad day.

Love is learning all sorts of new things to help care for your sick husband. Love is learning to flush an IV line or empty a surgical drain bag. Love is setting up a medical cart to make it easier to deal with all the meds and scheduling and supplies necessary to care for a cancer-chemo patient at home. Love is driving up and down IH-35 to Brooke Army Medical Center for various appointments, even though you hate city and commuter traffic. And, love is even doing the freeway flyovers that terrify you!

Love is
the man who makes my world go ‘round. His name is Pete. He has been married to me for more than 41 years. He is the father of my two daughters. We have seven grandchildren. We have two very nice sons-in-law. We have a lovely home. We have a Great Dane, two
Mustangs, a couple of barn cats, and four habitats of fish. Yes, he spoils me and always has. And, that is another kind of love.

Which is why I do not mind spoiling him and caring for him in his time of need. ‘Cause that is love, too. Offering comfort in whatever ways I can to make him feel even a little bit better. Helping him to be as healthy as possible in this difficult time. To make him feel loved. ‘Cause he is loved. Very much loved. By me. By our children and grandchildren. By my parents. By our siblings and extended family. By friends. And, even by our animals. Especially our Great Dane, Blue, who shows his love regularly by staying close to Pete and checking on him multiple times each day.

So, what is love? Kinda depends on what you need at the time. Kinda depends on what is needed by those around you. But, it is caring, sharing, and daring. It is kind. It is companionable. It is what keeps us together. It is one of the most important things in the world. Even to the Lord.

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” What is love? A law I can live with!

All in all

Guest post by Suzann Darnall

All in all life is not so bad right now. Yes, my husband has cancer. Yes, there have been numerous visits and stays in the hospital over the past few month. Yes, he has gone through an extensive surgery, as well some minor procedures and surgeries. Yes, he is facing chemotherapy and radiation. Yes, he is still with me and the prognosis is more positive than negative. So, considering everything, all is not so bad.

Have you ever thought about the word “all”? It has multiple definitions. The ones that are most relevant to my thoughts this day are: 1) the whole amount, quantity, or extent of AND 2) every member or individual component of. In addition to the definitions of “all”, there are dozens of common phrases using the word “all” which are also defined in various places online.

I guess the word “all” is on my mind right now ‘cause it is kinda my be-all-end-all that is at risk at this time. My husband, Pete, is , in many ways, the most important person in my life. He is my greatest concern most of the time. I am always thinking about ways to make his life more comfortable. I want him to always be happy. And, at this time, that has become of paramount importance beyond anything I ever considered before.

I am trying very much to go all out in taking care of him. I am not succeeding 100%, but I think I am doing at least a bit above average. I have learned nursing procedures I never ever wanted to know and did them fairly well. I have figured out keeping records that have assisted the doctor in making decisions of continuing or ceasing treatments. I have organized medical supplies in a way that even impressed Pete’s temporary home visit nurse.

Important to all of this this is that I am not all alone in my endeavors. My family and friends are very much standing all together in helping me to care for Pete, home, and critters. At the very beginning of this journey, family was in and out of the hospital during a hospitalization Pete had in August. In November, my father came to stay with me during Pete’s surgery and long hospital stay. My mother’s support in this was to help Dad prepare for the trip and stay home to tend to things there, thus allowing my dad to assist me. My daughter, Amanda, fed critters each evening for weeks, which allowed me to visit with Pete longer during his hospital stay. My other daughter, Charly, sat at the hospital with me all day for his Whipple procedure, which was a 8+ hour surgery. She then returned at times to visit with us or bring me food.

Others have stepped up to the plate as well. Son-in-law, Casey, drove up from San Antonio to install a new lock when one of my door handles broke. Son-in-law, Ray, sat at home with Pete one afternoon so Amanda could help me get a supply of grain from the feed store. A dear friend, Jodi, comes by to water my plants. Others have brought us the sacrament, visited with us, come carolling, sent cards, and even brought gifts. Even my long distance friends and family are keeping in touch with texts, cards, and social media. And, let’s not even forget all the prayers and blessings. Then, there are all those medical people involved for months now with Pete’s care. So many of them have gone above and beyond in taking care of his needs. Thanks to each of these very special people we are pretty much doing all right.

While we may not exactly be one for all, all for one, I do feel that we are sorta doing that. I definitely feel I am being all for my one, who is also my all. And, I feel so much love, care, and concern from friends and family. They are concerned not just about Pete, but about me and my extended family. They even express concern about my animals. Plus, my dear sweet Pete, is very concerned about me and about all the others who are helping.

In our fight for against cancer, we are all in. We are also all in for our fight to be an eternal family. It is our supreme goal to make it to Heaven and be reunited with our many loved ones who have gone before, including a precious granddaughter, Vivian Reyna, and my grandparents. It is for this reason that I personally try to make it to church each Sunday and fulfill my calling as best I can, plus attempt to be the best me I can be. I want not just time, but I want forever. Only eternity will be enough time with my eternal sweetheart and all those I love.

Still and all, I am good with waiting a while for eternity to begin. I have family and friends here. I want to experience all that I can on this side of the veil first. I want to grow old with my Pete. Perhaps even see our great-grandchildren and I am not adverse to being a living fifth generation if the Lord so allows!

As I said at the beginning, all in all, life is not so bad. A little rough. But, I think we are ready. More ready than I ever thought I would be for something like this. When all is said and done, I am more blessed than stressed. Life might not always be easy, but despite the trials, I am all for it. I want to experience the joy and the sorrow, so I might expand my knowledge. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” Occasionally those times go side by side and you experience them all at once.

I am definitely all in. I want my precious times with Pete and my family. It is not always easy right now, but we are making special efforts to be with our children and our grandchildren as best we can. Heavenly Father’s plan really and truly is all about family. Should our lives not reflect that same rank of importance for those we love when when we prioritize?

"I find much to love in my life and it brings me great joy. Why would I want to take a day off from all that I love and enjoy?"

Suzann Darnall writes today's guest post:

It is “International Women’s Day”. A day that many (so-called) Progressive women are using to bash men, family, President Trump, their jobs, our country, and just about anything else they can find to complain about. Hmmm . . . I haven’t seen much in their never-ending litany that is actually in praise of women or womanhood.

“International Women’s Day” was originally “International Working Women’s Day”. It was supposedly meant to commemorate the movement for women’s rights. Surprise, surprise, it was begun by the Socialist Party of America. It was predominantly celebrated in communist countries and by socialists until the United Nations adopted it in 1975. And, we all know how concerned the UN is with women’s rights, considering some of the completely inappropriate members they have sitting on various organizations that supposedly protect women throughout the world.

So, I suppose one should not be surprised that the color they chose for showing solidarity is red, the traditional color of socialism and communism. Nor, should it come as a shock that their way of celebrating a day about working women is to encourage women to NOT work.

Well, I am here to let them know that if I am wearing any red today it is ‘cause it is one of my most very favorite colors and I look good in it. I love red. Friends used to call me “lady in red” since I wore it so much. I adore the good ole’ red, white and blue of America, too.

I also want the Progressives to know that I WILL be working today. As I generally am working every day. Yes, even on the Lord’s Sabbath. ‘Cause let’s face it, there’s feeding gotta take place no matter what. I like to eat, my husband likes to eat, and my critters most certainly rely on me to feed them. Everyone around here gets fed at least twice a day and some eat three times or more. So, yes, I most emphatically have work to be done seven days a week. It is my job. I am a wife, homemaker, and “zookeeper” 24/7.

I am also a quilter several days a week ‘cause I have a small in-home business. So, I do not take a day off for some silly idea a group of dissatisfied Progressive women came up with that is supposed to make some idiotic statement about them demanding rights that they already have!

Not only do these women not speak for me, they do not speak for almost all the women I know. They are out there demanding rights we already have. Rights we are already exercising. Yet, they are encouraging women to not only not exercise their right to work, but are encouraging them to not support the schools that are there to educate the next generation, including girls and young women.

While I support the right of these Progressives to march and protest, I object to their trying to usurp my right to speak for myself. I do not need a celebrity spokesperson or a terroristic organization trying to cow me, my government, and my country into surrendering to their socialist demands. The unity these so-called feminists preach about is not a march to freedom. Rather, it is about fitting into their little pre-formed and quite rigid boxes of who and what women should be, all according to their agenda. And, it would seem there are puppet masters in the shadows further manipulating their movement so that such anti-woman and anti-freedom ideas as Sharia Law are being floated as somehow pro-feminist. What???

Well, I am not going to buy into their false news narrative. I am a free woman. I was raised by a free woman. I raised two free women. They are now raising five free girls . . . and one rather outnumbered (but still free) boy. We are supported in our choices by strong men. My mother was a stay-home wife and mother. I was a stay-home wife and mother. One of my daughters has opted to be a stay-home wife and mother. My other daughter is a wife and mother who also works outside the home. We are ALL working women ‘cause making a comfortable home for a husband and family is a lot of work.

Most of the women I know are also wives and mothers. Some work only at home, some also have jobs outside the home, and some work from home at additional careers. Many have hobbies, pets, animals, church, charities, and other demands upon their time. They are in a constant state of juggling their calendar to meet the needs of all those around them. They do not often get to take a day off. Even their days off, weekends or vacations are filled with the care of themselves and others.

Why do we do it? While I cannot answer for all women, I can answer for me and I think I am not that different from many other women I know.

Why do I do it? Mostly out of love. Love for my husband. Love for our children and our grandchildren. Love for our animals. Love for our home. Love for our property. Love for quilting. Love of cooking. I find much to love in my life and it brings me great joy. Why would I want to take a day off from all that I love and enjoy?

I think women like me are the real feminists. The truly liberated women of the world. We have found what we love, we do what we love, and we don’t give a dang about what others think of our choices. I am truly free to be me. And, I do not mind giving a measure of the credit to the man I love, my husband, who has very much made it possible by all the ways he supports me in doing what I do.

Perhaps this is the difference between most of the women I know and the Progressive feminists that are constantly bitching in the news: love. The shrill screechers always being shown in media seem to ever be focused on hate and dissatisfaction. At times it seems there is nothing they approve of or enjoy.

Well, I want to give a shout-out to the women who enjoy their lives. Who love their choices. The women who happily started a load of laundry this morning. The mothers who fed their kids and got them off to school with a hug. The wives who kissed their husbands as they left for work. The women who took donuts or cookies to share with their co-workers. The ladies going out to lunch at a favorite restaurant. The girls planning a get-together for after work to celebrate a friend’s promotion, engagement, or pregnancy. The homemakers who are planning tonight’s dinner. The working gals who are giving themselves a break and picking up a pizza on the way home. These are the women who really get what International Women’s Day means.

It means another day when women can choose to be who they want to be. Another day we can be wives, mothers, daughters, workers, friends, citizens, homemakers, or a combination of as many of the options as we desire. We are American women. We already have rights. We exercise them each and every day. We don’t have to listen to a group of disgruntled women who seem to be too ignorant to realize it.blockquote>

Sayonara,
Suzann
http://www.suziezoo.com
http://www.woolymammoth.org

A blood thirsty Republican!

Enough with all the hatred!

Why do you get out of bed?

Ann Voskamp writes at A Holy Experience,

What you are in love with decides what you live for.

Sacrifice will always leave you the most satisfied.

Fall in love, stay in love, stay sacrificing, and you live the most satisfied.

What you are in love with in life —- decides everything about your life.

Love decides everything.

Read more here.

What is this thing called love?

Scott Ott chooses two passages from 1 Corinthians to help us know how to love:

"And if I have prophetic powers, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have faith so as to remove mountains,
but have not love,
I am nothing...
Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth."
- - 1 Corinthians 13:2,4-6
"Be watchful,
stand firm in the faith,
act like men,
be strong.
Let all that you do
be done in love."
- - 1 Corinthians 16:13,14

Love got us all here. Sacrifice got us all here.

At a Holy Experience Ann Voskamp reminds us that,

...life’s not about choosing a lifestyle — but a way to serve.

...Love got us all here.

Sacrifice got us all here.

You have got to sacrifice something for someone — or you will have nothing and no one. Because without sacrifice — we have nothing.

And there are 7 things that a country, relationship, or life, cannot have:

Power without principle.
Money without work.
Work without meaning.
Comfort without conscience.
Leading without character.
Love without sacrifice.

Ways without Christ.

Read more here about her new baby with the broken heart.

He knows one thing for certain about love

At American Digest Gerard Vanderleun writes about death... and love.

Love frightens me because, unlike death, love cannot be understood. Love can only be given, gotten, taken or dropped. Like death, it would seem that, once discovered, there's no end to it -- or, to take Hemingway's point of view, no good end to it since one way or another death will trump love -- in this world at least.

...Still, it would be nice if I could understand the nature of love and my absurd role in the love dramas of my life. If the joke, in the end, is on me it would be nice to be able to say that I "get it."

Nice but not, I think, necessary. Even if I never get it, I do know one thing for certain about love, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Read more here.

Someone is in charge!

Thomas P. Sheahen writes at American Thinker,

...scientists stand open-jawed and in awesome wonder, consider all that lies before us, both known and unknown. On the one hand, we are very impressed with the vastness of the universe; but on the other, we are even more impressed that it all makes sense, that the entire story hangs together. There is a unity that pervades all of science, and that unity points very clearly to the realization that Someone is in charge.

...It is the small size of the mind, not the large size of the numbers, that leads to the mistake of thinking God can’t handle the job.

...As editor Francis Church wrote in 1897, “Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.” That point has gradually sunk in with scientists. By accepting with humility that we don’t know it all, and that our scientific instruments only investigate a small slice of the universe, we realize that reality extends far beyond the boundaries of science. “Love and generosity and devotion exist, and we know that they give to life its highest beauty and joy.”

Read more here.

Love, Light, and Life

This guest post is by Suzann Darnall.

Red always makes me think of the love of Christmas. Bright and glowing red. Red like a heart. Red like the color of the blood Jesus would eventually shed for all mankind. Red like the lips kissing under the mistletoe.

Red is one of my favorite colors anyway. I love to wear red. I look good in red, too. It is one my high school colors. It is part of America’s patriotic red, white, and blue . . . which were also my Class of 1976 class colors. As well as being one of the class Christmas colors of red, white, and green. It is a color that says “joy”.

White makes me think of the many sources of light at Christmas Christmas. Bright and shining lights around trees, houses, and buildings. Stars shining in the sky at night. The Star of Bethlehem. Sparkles in the eyes of children waiting in line to meet Santa Claus. Tears in the eyes of loved ones meeting after long absences. Candles all aglow in windows, on feasting tables, or scattered about decorated houses.

White is another of my favorite colors. I look good in it and like to wear it. It is also a color for high school, patriotism, 1976 class, and classic Christmas. It also reminds me of the shining purity of the love of Christ. Of charity.

Green has come to mean two things to me for Christmas: Eternal Life and The Grinch! I hate that it has become tinged with sordid things in my mind. But, it has happened nonetheless.

It symbolizes eternal life because that is why God sent His Son, Jesus, to be born and die. That we might eventually be resurrected and live with Him forever. The evergreens that stay alive and lovely through the winter are a great reminder that even in darkness there is life, light, and love. The life, light, and love that is part of the Spirit of Christmas.

But, amidst this aura of life, light and love there are those who would steal, literally, the Spirit of Christmas. Like those who are stealing in this holiday season. Stealing decorations off lawns. Stealing checks and gifts from mailboxes. Stealing purses and wallets in stores. Just like the Grinch crept into Whoville to steal the trees, and feast, and gifts, there are those who commit theft and robbery around communities across our nation.

Nevertheless, despite these thieves of property and holiday joy, many Americans still hold Christmas in their hearts. They look beyond the decorations, the gifts, and the cost to remember the reason for the season: Christ our Lord. They see past the hate and anger to find the love and joy that should fill our hearts, homes, and holidays!

So, let’s fill our Christmas season with love, light, and life. Let’s push all those Grinches off to the side and not allow them to spoil our holidays. Focus on the joy. Find happiness with family, friends, fun, food, and faith! God bless us everyone!!!

Love and friendship across the sex divide

Grim posts at Grim's Hall on the Glenn Reynolds piece in USA Today on the subject of feminism in the West.

we who consider ourselves men in the West are in favor of women leading decent lives. We take them seriously even where our interests strongly diverge, out of love. But we also hold them to certain standards, also out of love, because to violate those standards would be to fall.

So I don't think that feminism works in the West because 'leadership by fathers' is dead. I think it works because the leadership in the West is exercised in love. What Glenn Reynolds is advocating for is men-against-women, rather than men-for-women. What I think I'd like to see more of is women-for-men rather than women-against-men, and that combined with men-for-women. Speaking as a husband and father, that dynamic of friendship and reinforcement has been of tremendous importance to me.

Of course, I don't want a paternalistic government -- no more, and perhaps less, than a patriarchal one. It might be well, though, if our civil society better embodied the idea of love and friendship across the sex divide. We ought to take care of each other, and lift each other up.

Read more here.

Chivalry and modesty

The woman in the photo above is named Caprizchka. She has written a piece called Power vs. Love.

It would seem to me that ultimate power rests with he or she who dictates the course that “love” should take with others. Whether one is talking about men behaving chivalrously toward women as a demonstration of love for those women, or women behaving subserviently toward men as a demonstration of love, social norms might call one “good” and the other “bad”. Whoever defines those social norms has a lot of power.

Whereas I think that it is strange that there isn’t a linguistic equivalent of “chivalry” when the actor is a woman. Since men are generally physically stronger than women it would seem to me that the social equivalent of “chivalry” is “modesty”. Specifically, a woman who physically and materially subverts her outward appearance (the primary source of “power” in a woman particularly a young healthy one) such as to recede into the shadow of her beloved man is essentially behaving “chivalrously” by subverting her own power in his service, assuming that it is a service.

Read more here.

Gender is not enough

Lesley Leyland Fields writes,

A man or woman, a boy or girl who tends toward the features considered “the other” may question his or her identity in a way that may not have happened a few decades ago.

It seems to me that men are hit particularly hard on this, from two directions. Women and girls enjoy a generous allowance that encourages the athlete, the supermodel, the CEO and the mother as equally valid expressions of femaleness. Many parents, like me, encourage our daughters to be pitchers and point guards (and fishermen) rather than princesses. But cultural expectations of masculinity are far more stingy. If a man is gentle, compassionate, artsy, empathetic, cultivates beauty in his life, talks with his hands, enjoys the friendship of women, his masculinity and sexuality is instantly questioned.

Nor are the stereotypes themselves gender equitable. After suffering generations of sexism, women fare much better than men under the current spotlight. Women are lauded for their neural plasticity; are seen as flexible, cooperative, compassionate, honest. Women outpace men in higher education, in employability, and in a score of other measures. And at the movies, they’re as glamorous and sexy as ever but they’re also Avengers, superheroes, as kick-ass as the men. Angelina Jolie, all 100 pounds of her, can flick a 300 pound villain over her gorgeous head. Women can do and be it all.

And men? Yes, athletes and superheroes, but not much else. They’ve been lame pathetic fathers in sitcoms for more than 20 years. The moral failures of male politicians has come to feel like the norm. Physiologically, men are critiqued for their single-lobed rigidity, for their lone-wolf leadership style, leading one social observer, Hanna Rosen, to her 2010 provocative cover story for The Atlantic, The End of Men. In my day, many girls wanted to be boys, myself included because the boys held all the power. No longer. Now it is men who want to be women: three times as many men as women are undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

I’m not explaining away Jenner’s transformation on the media-ized ascendency of women in our time, though it may be a contributing factor. That double image of Bruce and then Caitlyn is a fitting poster for the increasing gap between the genders. But even more than this, Jenner’s interview and his Vanity Fair coverage poignantly highlights that our sexualized obsession with gender is failing us.



This is my hope, that whoever we are, we will be known not for our gender category but for our mercy, our wisdom, our kindness, our humility, our grace, and our love. If we allow the Holy Spirit to do this in us, we will be exactly who we were created to be, inside and out.

Read more here.

1st Corinthians 4-7

Are you having trouble as a parent loving your child the way you want to? The Bible offers these thoughts:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

"Easier said than done," you say? Yes, but Whom do we worship? Did He show us the Way? We can get there, on our knees.

"I saw his heart!"

Thanks to Ann Voskamp for linking to this video.

Dead end at the Gallopin' Goose

An Arizona man named Andrew Dekenipp just could not bear the thought of being without his girlfriend on Valentines Day. He had been in jail since January 10

on suspicion of vehicle theft, trafficking in stolen property, unlawful flight, theft and driving on a suspended license.

On Valentine's Day he

had to scale a 12-foot fence, crawl through razor wire, and scale another wire-topped fence in order to leave the premises.

He made his way to the Gallopin' Goose Saloon & Grill, where he was set to meet with his girlfriend.

She had just barely arrived by the time authorities caught up with Dekenipp, according to bar patrons.

Islands in the Stream

Have you ever heard the song Islands in the Stream? I never had heard it. Gerard Vanderleun has two videos, each with Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, nearly thirty years apart. If you've never heard the song, please go over to American Digest now. You won't be sorry. Dolly Parton is amazing, showing great spunk and gratitude.

How did I miss this song?

Love and death

Don't miss Gerard Vanderleun's thoughts about love and death.