Field of Daisies

A Little About Me... (Part II)

Here's a continuation of yesterday's ramblings...from a couple of years ago.

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I love going to movies--even if the movie isn't very good....

I love laughing with friends and talking about the goodness of our God. I love encouraging others with the encouragement I've gained through my walk with my Savior.

I love riding horses with Jenna, listening as she talks incessantly to our guide about anything that comes into her head.

I love working word searches with Zach and talking about the things closest to his heart.

I love talking with Joel in the dark before we drift off to sleep on those rare occasions when he goes to bed with me....

I love writing letters and sending cards to people--the old-fashioned way--through the U.S. mail.

I love music and movies that stir my soul or lift my spirits or challenge me.

I love the color purple. Every shade reminds me of my sweet little girl.

I love Zachary's dimples. His smile still melts my heart and makes me grateful to my God.

I love things that smell good: potpourri, candles, perfume, air freshners, flowers, fresh-baked homemade bread, banana bread still warm in the oven.

I love lace. It is feminine and sophisticated, delicate and dainty, nostalgic and beautiful and pure....

I love photographs that capture special moments or reveal hidden thoughts or inspire reflection or meditation or awe.

I love photo albums and scrapbooks that record the happy moments of our lives.

I love the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas.

I love sweet hugs and kisses from little people with messy faces and sticky hands.

I love our fluffy, fat kitty cat that nuzzles me when he's hungry, and plops down on my favorite rug with all fours in the air when he wants his tummy scratched. I love our fetching, moaning, leg-warming kitty cat that sleeps next to my pillow at night and walks through the house, meowing sorrowfully with her woobie in her mouth until she finds someone to whom she can deliver it...

I love foot rubs and back scratches.

I love when Jenna "fixes" my hair--as only a six-year-old can....

I love tea parties and giving gifts to people I love.

I love old hats and white gloves and hard-sided suitcases without wheels.

I love clocks and wine corks and bookmarks and quilts, old and new.

I love fancy ink pens and pretty stationery. I love blank journals that I can fill up with my thoughts and prayers, and on whose pages I can work out the tougher issues of my life. I can always find a true Friend there, one that hangs on my every word and understands the deepest longings of my heart....

I love to learn new things and to question old rituals, habits and beliefs.

I love caramel apples in the fall, frosted sugar cookies at Christmas, and powdered sugar doughnettes with chocolate milk from the carton early in the morning--especially on road trips! I love my mom's homemade bread at Christmas, and her special "hand-me-down" cinnamon rolls anytime!

I love fishing when the fish are biting. I love breakfast on camping trips--the smell of bacon sizzling on a kerosene stove, eating scrambled eggs and buttered camp toast smothered with jelly, and drinking hot coffee made the old-fashioned way.... I love the sound of dishes being washed in a RubberMaid tub after breakfast... Something about that familiar rumble and clunk makes me happy....

I love the sound of a tent zipper unzipping and zipping again in the early morning hours. It too is a happy sound to me.

I love my tiny little mama with her soft, wrinkled skin and pale blue eyes beneath graying blondish-brownish hair. I love her smile, her quiet manner, her gentle laughter, and that ornery twinkle she gets in her eyes on rare occasions when she's feeling playful. She's never loud or haughty or rude. She always thinks of others before herself.

I love that my dad takes so much of life in stride. I love that he knows Who holds his future and his present and that he trusts Him so completely. I love the way he lets things roll off him like water off a duck's back so much of the time. I love the fearless way he faced his bypass surgery a couple of years ago... His faith put my heart at ease....

I love talking on the phone with my sister for hours, sharing my life with her, listening as she shares hers with me. I love that we are able to encourage, challenge and support one another through the difficult and trying times of our lives. I love that she prays for me. I love that I am close enough to her to know how to pray for her. I love that she is one of my very closest friends.

I love that Zach and Jenna love their aunts and uncles and grandparents so much. I love that they are so special to them and vice versa.

I love that my brother is the type of man that people speak well of and think highly of.

I love that beauty makes me cry.

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Yes, I'm horribly flawed, desperately sinful...and hopelessly romantic. Sure, I have my problems and my quirks and my perfectionistic tendencies. As much as I adore my children I sometimes yell at them. Sometimes I can be critical and unforgiving toward my husband. And even at the age of 40 I recognize there's still a hurt little girl inside me that needs to be loved and accepted and protected--a little girl that still loves teddy bears and paper dolls. But when all is said and done, I am a special, loving, compassionate, sensitive, sentimental person. And I like who I am!

And it is to Him I owe all my praise, all my adoration, all my gratitude--all the days of my life.... Whether my life continues for one more minute or 60 more years, my hope is that I will spend that time in service and praise and honor to Him....