oh my

we woke up to snow this morning. blink ??? blink. i am not sure if i have ever lived anywhere that it has snowed on or before christmas...much less mid NOVEMBER. it was lovely. i love the sound of silence that snow possesses.

words from a father

my husband surprised me last year for my 30th birthday with a scrapbook filled with birthday wishes, cards, and notes from everyone i have ever known in my life. words are so powerful. i opened the book up tonight to revisit some of my letters and wanted to share these words with you. this is a letter from a man who sought me out as a hurting teenager and has never let go. i have such a deep respect and resounding love for him and his family. maybe these words will speak to you ::

My daughter in the faith of Christ, the one to whom I first had opportunity to witness and share in ministry, the one who has brought my life such joy and laughter: the blessings and peace of God to you on this great day of celebration in your life. May His Holy strength and peace be yours as you continue to journey forward on His path, bound together with you your husband, together seeking His will and call. May He provide for you wisdom, clarity, compassion and grace as you seek to serve Him in the second season of your life, a season that will be profoundly different from the first, but one equally rich and rewarding. Never forget the spontaniety of youth and allow it to fuel your dreams as wife and mother. You are now in the age of contribution. What will yours be? It has already been so great in so many ways, but it unfolds now in the grander scheme - the true call He has placed on you and David. I pray for you and look forward to exactly what that will be in the coming years - and I know He will be pleased. Be blessed - know you are loved - and embrace His sovereign Hand. I love you.

wow. wow. wow. means more to me tonight than it did to me last year. what love. what challenge. for those of you that are now in the age of contribution, what will yours be? i am not asking you to answer...just asking you to think...