bringing daffodils

though winter

sun fed unseen

roots still

the gardener tended

patting

down keeping

warm loving

still and waiting

hoping

knowing what

the underground promise did not

believe

that she could

would

emerge

in spring

when he brought me

daffodils

this gardener

who believes

for me

when I cannot

leaves too

frail to push upward

he stoops anyway

encourages

loves

and his love is the reason for

the blooms

This is dedicated to my dear husband, who brought me daffodils on Sunday.

And who’s been bringing them to me for nearly 17 years.

Thank you.

Knee deep in thankfulness

I’m thankful for laundry.

I never thought I’d say it–much less write it–but I’m thankful for laundry today.

As I type, my bedroom floor is covered in 2-3 foot moguls of laundry. Occasionally, as I step through it, a hidden boy or a dog will yelp and dart out of the room. Most days, putting laundry away is my least favorite thing to do. The task is just so vain and never-ending. Like Gremlins, laundry always comes back. Always multiplies. Always overwhelms. Even when I think I’m done, my husband decides to clean his side of the closet and then there it sets, another full basket of dirty laundry.

Sigh.

This afternoon, though, I decided to try to think different about my laundry. A paradigm shift, if you will, of a seemingly meaningless, perpetually monotonous and mundane task. So here it is, my laundry list of laundry thankfulness:

1. I am thankful my laundry exists because God has blessed me with a house full of people who wear it.

2. I am thankful my pile of laundry exists because the people in my house are healthy and run around dribbling, spilling, goobering and slobbering all over their clothes, which is why it needs washed in the first place.

3. Separated out, each individual in my family has their own individual pile of laundry bigger than the pile of clothes other entire families have to wear between them. Thanks, God, for giving us plenty to wear, and then some. Spur us on to share.

4. My sons’ socks are dwarfed by my husband’s. This reminds me raising little boys and having them here in my home is a brief, scintillating and special time.

5. One child prefers all white underwear. Another prefers boxers. Another prefers skivvies with animated characters on them. This makes me thankful for how uniquely God gifted and created each one of them. 

6. I am the only one in my home who requires skirt hangers. This reminds me how grateful I am that I do not have daughters. (Call me crazy, but I’ve always been over-the-moon about having all boys!)

7. I pair and fold my husband’s black dress socks, and I am grateful he has a good and steady job to wear them to each day.

8. I hang my husband’s dress shirts, and I’m so grateful he works so hard for us every day.

9. I hang my husband’s golf shirts and am thankful he is healthy and able to play and have leisure time that he loves.

10. I set aside a few little boy tees that are too small for anyone in this house anymore, and I am thankful I have enough that I can give things to others.

I folded all that laundry and thanked God for each person in my family . . . that they are alive and well . . . that I can put the clothes away in closets . . . that they will have another day full of life to live and wear them. I thanked God, and I said a prayer and shed a tear for the families I know who have lost husbands and fathers, children and wives . . . families faced with a closet or basket full of laundry for someone they’d give anything in the world to see wear it all again.

So you see, today I am thankful for my laundry.

What are you thankful for today?

Love and War: A book review

In time for Valentine’s Day, a book review of Love and War, by John and Stasi Eldredge*

Summary:  

What the Eldredge bestsellers Wild at Heart did for men, and Captivating did for women, LOVE & WAR will do for married couples everywhere. John and Stasi Eldredge have contributed the quintessential works on Christian spirituality through the experience of men and the experience of women and now they turn their focus to the incredible dynamic between those two forces.  

With refreshing openness that will grab readers from the first page, the Eldredges candidly discuss their own marriage and the insights they’ve gained from the challenges they faced. Each talks independently to the reader about what they’ve learned, giving their guidance personal immediacy and a balance between the male and female perspectives that has been absent from all previous books on this topic.   They begin LOVE & WAR with an obvious but necessary acknowledgement:  Marriage is fabulously hard.  They advise that the sooner we get the shame and confusion off our backs, the sooner we’ll find our way through.  

LOVE & WAR shows couples how to fight for their love and happiness, calling men and women to step into the great adventure God has waiting for them together. Walking alongside John and Stasi Eldredge, every couple can discover how their individual journeys are growing into a story of meaning much greater than anything they could do or be on their own.

Review:

From the first page, the Eldredge’s willingness to share their own, real, personal marital challenges and triumphs gripped me. They moved me. Challenged me. Convicted me. Their words breathed hope into parts of my own marriage tattered from the scars of childhood sexual abuse, and pressed me on in the battle to find redemption of those broken parts of myself . . . as well as to engage my brave husband in the battle for me, for him, and for our marriage.

At times, the emphasis on warfare and the dark, spiritual side of things felt too overwhelming . . . overemphasized. Otherwise, the book is a welcome encouragement towards the shared adventure of God’s intent for good and healthy marriage.

The tools and prayers at the end of the book are much appreciated and useful. Indeed, praying for our marriage is one of the most convicting and significant, impactful aspects of the book–holding eternal ramifications I know we will be most thankful for in the future.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for married–or even soon-to-be-married folks. I would caution those who have suffered sexual abuse in the past, however, in reading this. Although the Eldredge’s do a beautiful job of touching on that subject, they only touch upon it lightly. Recovering those broken pieces takes more than a book. But this one is a good start.

*This book was graciously provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah. If you or any of your blogger friends might like to participate in this or any other blog tours, please visit the official WaterBrook Multnomah Blogging for Books site page at:  http://www.randomhouse.com/waterbrook/bloggingforbooks