I posted a question on Twitter and Facebook today about favorite vacation spots. I appreciated all of the suggestions. One said Nice, France and Nantucket – both ideas I would not have thought of but will have to check into! Most said a cruise, which sounds great except for the threat of motion sickness. One said Puerto Rico, while still another named several beaches depending on price.

Did I mention I need a vacation?

All of the above sound wonderful! And I wish I could make reservations and go tomorrow. But for now I will keep seeking recommendations and check into them. I still have California dreamin’ on my mind as well…but need to check out places to visit while we visit our kids. One cannot sit in an apartment all day.

While I’m busy dreamin’, I went out for a little bit of sunshine enjoyment today. I had to go to Sam’s Club, so I figured I could finally see if they had a copy of Michal or Abigail. I’m told others have seen copies in other Sam’s Clubs. But alas, either my local one had sold out (my hubby chooses to think positively here) or they aren’t carrying it. I did see novels by several author friends, so that was cool.

I meant to post this picture earlier – these are the roses Randy gave me for my Valentine’s birthday. Roses never live long, but they sure are gorgeous while they last.

The cats go a little stir crazy when I open the blinds in the morning and they see the sunshine. They start chasing each other around the house and fight like …well…cats. Tiger and I both get stuffy these days. I wonder if he’s allergic to humans…

I decided to give fake nails a try again, this time with a color rather than see-through French nails, which ends up having the glue show. I need to find shorter nails because I end up spending too much time filing them to a length I can manage. It’s hard to type even now with these things, but for $3 I can’t complain too much.

Another distraction I find helpful when wishing for vacations is hobbies. Reading, of course, is one of my favorites. I tiptoed into the world of secular historical romance the other day but came away disappointed. The story placed way too much emphasis on the sensual rather than working harder to create well-rounded characters. Motivations were contrived and even the sensual was unrealistic, not to mention over-the-top. I think it’s helpful to know what others are reading but I wasn’t impressed with this book.

Another hobby I’ve developed is an addiction to Sudoku. Well, maybe not an addiction, but I’ve discovered I can play it on my phone, so it’s a nice distraction when waiting in line at a grocery story or on long car rides, etc…

Facebook brought me in touch with an old high school friend – which is so fun! We haven’t seen each other in years, but are hoping to meet sometime next month. She stood up in my wedding almost 33 years ago! (I was young!) Can you tell I’m fighting the aging thing? But then, aren’t we all?

Hubby just turned on Andy Griffith – I remember homeschool lunch breaks when we used to watch it every day. Time marches on…

Selah~

I’ve got to admit, I’ve got a great family! I know I did nothing to deserve them, but I sure do appreciate them. We’ve been playing at the empty nest this past week while Ryan spent his winter break in California with his brothers. I was wishing we could have gone with him, but it turned out it was better that we stayed home. Randy got a weird dizziness for a few days this week – apparently a virus that several people at work also had – and my mom was pretty sick with bronchitis. So traveling would not have worked for us. But being home without kids was so strange. Too quiet. And something I’m not ready to get used to. I suppose good can be found in a house with less people to pick up after, but I would rather do that than have to find ways to fill the void of missing them. And with the older two, I would enjoy the empty nest better if they didn’t live so far away…

But I digress…I got an email from Chris this week with a picture he drew for me. He said that he couldn’t afford to give me flowers for my birthday, so he painted me some. (Is there any greater gift than one given from the heart – and totally unexpected too!) He gave me permission to show you. (Moms have to brag on their kids sometimes, right?)

Chris has grown a lot in his drawing ability and frankly, he downright amazes me! You can see what I mean by visiting his portfolio on his website Akro Designs. In case I haven’t mentioned before (though I’m pretty sure I have) Chris designed this website too. I am mighty pleased with it!

I’ve been working on a new proposal idea this week while I’ve watched the gray skies and snow falling outside my window. I would complain because we really don’t see the sun often enough in Michigan, but then I watched the news and saw how hard hit the people in New York have been with snow and so long without power! Not to mention the people in Chili who just had an 8.8 earthquake and the tsunami threat to the Pacific Coast (California where my boys are included.) I don’t think the tsunami threat is as bad away from the coast – I hope not. But my dreams of living with a view of the beach…maybe I should rethink that a bit… In any case, those who do live there must be worried–praying for all those involved in these difficult, scary-weather times.

As I write this, Ryan is in an airplane headed back to Detroit, and I am listening to music on his computer. “It Is Well With My Soul” is playing right now – such a great reminder of what is truly important.

All in all, I am feeling rather blessed today – blessed to be loved, not just by my family but by my God. I know I don’t deserve His love, but when I stop to think about just how much He truly does love me – He knows my name (”Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Emphasis mine) – how can I feel any less than blessed? He loves me! What a glorious thought!

I pray you are blessed today as well~

Selah~

I wonder if anyone has ever known truly unconditional love on a purely human level. I rather doubt it because humans are flawed beings, and we put conditions on other people all the time. Parents and grandparents may tell a child, “I will love you if you are good,” or perhaps “I won’t love you if you don’t do this” as a way to get them to behave the way they want them to. (Of course, we are often way more subtle that this, but the message is still conveyed the same.) A teacher may praise or withhold praise, also to control behavior. Men may withhold love from their wives if they do not get the respect they desire, and women may withhold love from husbands if their man doesn’t cherish them the way they want to be cherished.

In truth, we have no trouble loving ourselves – it’s our neighbor who can be so hard to love. Love is too often “me” centered – as in “how does this person make me feel?” I love the line in the movie Pride & Prejudice where Mr. Collins is trying to propose to Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and he tells her that one of the reasons he wants to marry her is because he is sure it will “add greatly to his happiness.” Never mind what it will do to hers!

But I wonder, since we grow up with such flawed views of love – and even the most loving parents aren’t always unconditional in their loving – how hard is it for us to grasp a God who loves us exactly that way?

Romans 5:6-8 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Do you see the example of both conditional and unconditional love in these verses? The apostle Paul is saying that sometimes, in the right conditions, if there was someone who was good or righteous enough, or loved enough, someone might dare to die for them. I can see a parent easily giving his life for a beloved child, and there are many noble examples in history of people sacrificing their lives to save someone else. So in certain conditions, people do practice a kind of love that appears unconditional–but we do it conditionally based on the value or virtue of the object of our love. (I hope I’m making sense!)

God, on the other hand, demonstrated His love by dying for people who didn’t deserve it, who were not good and righteous, who did not and could not do anything to make the conditions right in order to gain His love. He chose to love us anyway. Without condition.

The Amplified Bible says it well:

“We were then by nature children of [God's] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind. But God–so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).” Ephesians 2:3b-5

Conditions of God’s justice (laid out in the Old Testament Law) remain as they always were, and they are impossible to meet. But Christ met them for us. The only condition left to us to fully embrace such unyielding, amazing love is to accept what Jesus did on our behalf, to trust Him with our very selves and to live the life of love He has for us. A love that is given freely, without merit, without condition.

Selah~