a + b = this blog post

as i mentioned earlier, i was in chicago for a week with my sweet ellie girl visiting cherished friends. i'll write about that in due time. but for now...

a.) while in chicago i caught a case of the tears. i'm serious. i don't know what happened but i became incredibly emotional and once those drops started falling, well, they just kept-a-commin. i wouldn't say that i was sad, just emotional. as soon as they would come, i would just push 'em back and try to keep them at bay. but somewhere between chicago and san franciso, those salty suckers just started to flow. as my girl was distracted with a movie, i stared out the window and silently wept. my mind was swirling with thoughts. i thought about friendship and home. i thought about the gifts that come when we let people into our lives, truly into our lives. i thought about my sister. i thought about pain. and through it all, i gazed at this...


those clouds were so symbolic to me. swirls of cushions layered below, that looked like they could catch me if i fell, like a soft bed. i was enamored with them... so much so that i broke out my camera and captured the moment. through this, i realized that life is filled with soft cushions. we meet people that feel like blankets, covering us with their warmth and love. people that are there for us and ready to catch us when we fall. i'm thankful that my life is filled with these people. i am blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by "warm blankets". as i thought of my sister and the surgery that she was about to undergo, i realized that she too, is surrounded by blankets. God designed it this way. He gives each of us support in our times of need, in our times of joy, in our times of confusion. but if we let it, those "warm blankets" can point us to Him. for He is the warmest blanket of all. while have some pretty comforting friends, He is the one that offers the most comfort. amen!

b.) today, while driving through the canyon that lies between pleasanton and freemont, my mind was swirling again. today, God didn't speak to me through clouds. He spoke through song lyrics. i was listening to the song how he loves by the david crowder band and one line just kept jumping out...

when all of a sudden, i am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory.

as those lines kept running through my head, i kept thinking about pain. i kept thinking that when we fall into our pain, like those soft warm blankets of clouds, sometimes it gets eclipsed (covered) by God's glory. when we hand our pain over to Christ, not letting it consume us, but letting it transform us, the image that is seen is the majesty of our King.

the song goes on...

and i realize just how beautiful you are, and how great your affections are for me. oh, how he loves us so. oh how he loves us. how he loves us all.

i was overcome with joy and as God wrote on my heart this amazing love. it was easier to bear the pain that my sister walks through today as i came into the belief that God loves her this way, too. His affections ARE great and He is beautiful... sometimes even more so as we walk through pain. and He'll catch us. He'll catch her in his great warm blanket of love.

oh, how he loves us so!