love is not a fairytale - it is the TRUTH

there is a reason that humans have written about love for centuries. playwrights, poets and screenwriters alike bring stories of love to life and share them with the world. with confidence i can say that I know the reason and am privileged to be sharing a story of the extraordinary power of love.  It is especially extraordinary for two reasons: one, that these words telling said love story are flowing through me again with ease; i am able to write again for the first time since my last post and two because it is inspired by my own family.

Let me begin by stating how honoured I was to bear witness to something so profound that it changed whatever I had carried with me about love to this day. this is how I know it to be true. 
i dedicate this post to my little sister and her now husband who were joined by God in marriage yesterday.

she has always inspired me. she has an infectious energy. she is talented, athletic, smart and has become a wise and peaceful soul - admirable. i have had a unique relationship with her in childhood, through our youth and now as adults. I could be so bold as to say that I "gave her away" to be married too. and looking back on the first time I met her husband - it certainly felt like it!

they were fiercely connected from the beginning. almost as if they had no clue about the world around them and the lives that had changed from what they had found.

I fast forward through those years leading up to yesterday because it is so clear that those years no longer need explanation. 

yesterday, my father walked her down the aisle. and as he walked i watched the entire scope of human emotion reveal itself in his face. when he finally took his about to be son in law's hand at the altar, that wall he had built to protect himself from the fear of that very moment seemed to appear in an instant. then they locked eyes, shook once, twice and with a profound gesture of love and acceptance it collapsed.

but it did not end there! that transcendant love continued to pour out of my father yesterday.

midway through dinner he took the microphone, in surprise to the entire room, and made a speech to his daughter and her new husband. he spoke of the sacred memories he held of his little girl, how she made him feel, the times they shared and how special their relationship was and is to him. and with impeccable timing, tremendous strength and conviction he spoke of the day his new son in law asked for my sisters hand. consequently it was also the first time they had met in person. he described how he felt so small after that encounter and thanked both of them for teaching him something in this life. he then concluded with the penultimate declaration of love - asking the newlyweds to have one hundred babies!

They always knew this day would come. and I know it now too because this kind of love is not a fairytale, it is the Truth. God has given us all a day to rejoice and be glad in the power of LOVE.

Bless!

choose your weapon

mine has always been words. with a back up of silent treatment, of course. and, as things in life always seem to come full circle (so i'm learning), my eldest now is blessed with an artillery of verbal weapons and uses them, daily. en garde!

I came across this beauty on facebook:

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/01/scientific-proof-thoughts-intentions-can-alter-physical-world-around-us.html

may not be new to many but the visual is just so stopping and I feel represents the exact "trinity of S" that binds me: screaming (shouting, shrieking... you get the idea) swearing and sarcasm.

there is one phrase that has hit me to the very core since my parenting journey began and it has nothing to do with being a parent. in my opinion, anyone can change a diaper, feed a baby or get to swim lessons. BUT not everyone is up to the task of raising a whole person. why? because at the end of the day none of that stuff matters (though it makes for a very "interesting" day). bums can be stinky, hair can be tangled and shirts can be stained.

the epicenter of being a big person in charge of little persons is in this one question: ARE YOU WORTHY OF IMITATION? say it out loud. pause. repeat. now continue.

your daughter sassy-mouths you? wonder where on earth she picked up that TONE? right. suddenly the weapons you choose are the ones pointing right back at you. and, nine times out of ten, that little body hurling them in your direction is already better than you at it.

now, I admittedly take a small moment of pride when my two year old drops the f bomb at the precise moment I would have (barreling down the highway and missing our exit). ha ha, cute right? hearing him exasperatingly declare it when unable to Velcro (yes Velcro) his shoes up is heartbreaking.

to this I say with honest and experienced sincerity; choose wisely friends.

angela