You looked at me with that smoothie in your hand. “Where should we go?” Your voice was that familiar tone that makes me smile. “Wherever we’re led, I suppose. Let’s just see.” The smile of affirmation you shot my way sent shivers of life into my heart. Up the hill. Down the hill. Right. Left. Left again. Maybe another right. Every turn, just going where, well, we went. Past homes, and families. Couples walking, and cars puttering.

We made it to the bridge before we looked up with tears in our eyes. Could that eternity length painting be real? Could it really be for us? Could there really be the possibility that breathing into us was the Creator of all of this? The questions were without number.

The sun shone on your dark frames. That little black hat, definitely didn’t shield your eyes as you gazed. I gazed. Nothing should, from such a light. We got lost.

Lost in the moment.

“Rest, and I will supply…”

The corn field was perfect. The sound of the air, more beautiful still. The stillness of a smile. Just a smile.

Memories replayed in the form of soul moving memories within me. Silence. Ache. Dreams. Peace. Then there’s you. Here with me, in this. All else seemed to fade away as the notes and rays wrapped their arms around us. We hadn’t any words, as this quickly became a memory we knew we’d have to leave to the Divine to explain. There was nothing left to say. All was just as it should be.

The journey became one of peace, without knowing where we were going, but knowing that after it all, we’d end up at home, together. Everything is an metaphor. Everything, everything here, and there, wrapped within me, is a metaphor for hope. We chased the light. We had nowhere to go but to the light. It took us deeply within and without at the same time. It was what we longed for. We couldn’t seem to get close enough to the beauty. Yet, it was already surrounding us.

A fort. A tear. A video or two. Tens of photos. S’mores ice cream. Simple conversation. Big conversation. Ache. Joy. Laughter.

Everything, for hope.

…because love wins.

Deep breath.
See with clear eyes.
A gray sky.
A rainy night.
A brighter morning.
A new day dawning.
Deep breath.
See with clear eyes.
A man; 33.
Standing, walking, falling,
hanging.
Bleeding.
A gray sky.
A day dawning.
Deep breath.
See with clear eyes.
A heart broken.
A heart alive.
A heart tired.
A heart perfectly molded.
For that heart,
breathes deep.
and sees with clear eyes.
There is a hope beyond what
is here.

…because love wins.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” – Romans 12:15

Distance could never keep us apart, so today, I do.

…because love wins.

Daughter.
Sister.
Best friend.
Mentor.
Cancer survivor.
Amputee.
National speaker.
Student.
Employee.
Employer.
Dreamer.
Listener.
Motivator.
Leader.
Follower.
Writer.
Guitarist.
Singer.
Reader.
Manager.

I am many things to many people, but before anything else, I will forever remain a child of God, learning to love and be loved more each and every day, into eternity.

You are too.

…because love wins.

The silence is uttering.

You can’t help but be captivated by its solid words. Breathe in. Breathe out. Smile. Smile that smile that stops the world and makes them turn their heads, and wonder. Dance. Dance like you have life, and in the freedom that erased the chains. Remind them they have the same. Love. Love in a way that makes them not be able to let go, though all their hearts want to do is scream and run away and hope no one sees the depth of their ache, while hoping all the while that someone will chase them. Be. Be, just as you are, for you are His, and He is reaching a hand; the perfect hand, through those finite beats, perfectly placed in their timing, to bring a world back to life. All they all beg for is Jesus. You know that. You can’t ever pretend you don’t. Let your silence bring their noise back to life. And, remember, you exist, just as they do, to be loved.

Because love wins. Always.

This love? It’s not a joke. This love? Maybe we can’t explain. This love? It’s not stress. This love? It brings me to live. This love? It wipes my tears. This love? It brings me peace. This love? It’s blue eyes. Green eyes. Brown eyes. Bright eyes. This love? It met me in a black shirt and a peach dress. This love? It cried on my shoulder. This love? It held my hand. This love? Drove up and away again in a blue car. This love? Is late nights and early mornings. This love? Is 4 CDs. This love? Is a bridge. This love? Is a slumber party. This love? Is a church pew. This love? Is a stick shift car. This love? Is a fire on Garvin. This love? Is your son, and your sharing. This love? Is how proud you get. This love? Laid on your driveway. This love? Had you walk up my driveway. This love? Is drives. To you. To me. This love? Is remembering. This love? Is meeting. This love? Is pie. This love? Is watching you with your guitar. This love? Is letters. This love? A field. A hot air balloon. A plane. This love? It’s conversation. This love? It’s not letting go. This love? It’s letting go. This love? It’s songs written, and listened to. This love? It’s breaking. It’s making. This love? Is hugs. This love? It’s never wanting to say goodbye. This love? It’s reminding us of a cross. This love? It comes from beyond us. This love? It’s what we live for. This love? Has made life worth living for. This love? Hospital rooms. Death beds. Edges of cliffs. Windy nights. Sunny days. This love? It’s that someone knows. This love? It’s something worth fighting for. Please, know, that this love?

It will come to save us all.

I love you.

You sit there and kind of just pass a glance, with maybe no one more than the air. They throw their words around you as you see your life slip in front of you. Empty words, but a full mind, of racing, pacing, thoughts. You’re small. But, not too small to be noticed. Remember, Jesus loves you, little one. And when I look into your eyes, I know. I know that this breaks you. I know that this aches you. But I know that I sat there, in that very bed. I know, that I gave away what I didn’t want to, and I know, I know that you still know that hope remains. I know we’re not too different, little one. And I know I’d have no where I’d rather be. I love you.

There is much more life to come. Always.

…because love wins.

“What keeps them from seeing?”
I sit here and ask,
aching from their beings.
How can love seem like hate?
How, oh how, did this even take place?
“To walk in love,” Abba;
it’s all I’ve lived to desire.
Stepped; begging always for guidance.
Dreamed; only of promise forever.
Did I really look the wrong way?
No, no, I saw only the price You paid.
“So how do I walk, or even stay?”
Ah, to know they didn’t see Perfection,
even when on water it stood strong.
They knew not Love,
even as it reached, and healed the blind man.
They knew not Truth,
as it raised them from dead,
then ripped flesh to conquer the grave.
What I see is only small,
yet it’s enough to know that they hated You then,
so too they may hate me.
Yet they need only one longing fulfilled,
and so in battle I’ll stand.
For it is love, Lord; the shield and sword.
Please with it, open their eyes, just a little.
Dress them in righteousness.
And as for me?
I’ll never not walk, go, seek; be loved.
Why?
Well this was not my plan,
and in Perfection, I believe.

Thank You, for living in me.
I know they’ll one day see.

“And I pray that you…will have the power to understand the greatness in Christ’s love – how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is… Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.” -Ephesians 3:18-19

All for love.

…because love wins.