Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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interstellar love

Handsome and I recently watched the 2014 movie Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey and were floored. It was a well made science fiction blockbuster with an intricately written story that spans decades (my favorite), and the acting was really great on all fronts, especially from Mackenzie Foy, the young girl playing the daughter. Purely on entertainment value, the movie was fantastic. When it ended we were both stunned into silence and breathless. But it has stuck with me for greater reasons than entertainment.

The story asks the viewer to consider the elasticity of time, the swell and tautness of relativity, the mystery of gravity. It asks the viewer to weigh the value of the future without the people most precious to you, to stretch your concern beyond your own world to encompass the human race as a whole. Then, through one convoluted scientific obstacle after another, you are confronted with all these possibilities that, well, I don’t know how else to say it, but science ultimately takes a deep, reverent bow to faith, and it was thrilling.

insterstellar quote with joc dusty photo

By now we all know how powerful Love can be if we set it loose. We may doubt it here and there, in moments of agonizing pain or when we are too surrounded by darkness to see (although remember that a dark room is the best place to see points of light). Life constantly tempts us to forget the far-reaching, logic-smashing glory and weight of Love. Then when it is the only thing left, when no other solution is working, or when we are so dazzled by the magic of Love that we can’t take out eyes off of it, everything else falls away and the right things fall into place. Again and again. Love wins.

In my own life I have seen the power of Love return precious people to my days and nights. Despite lies and bizarre circumstances, despite my own mistakes and shortcomings, despite everything. Love trumps it all. In this realm, time doesn’t even matter, and my heart has learned to stretch and breath without worry for it.

I hope you give a few hours of your life soon to Interstellar. It’s sad in parts, and it’s tricky to follow in parts if you’re not a strong science buff. But anyone with a warm heart will be able to appreciate the human story here, the spiritual lessons and tantalizing theory that time is truly relative. That Love spans time and space and is the source of the miracles we so desperately need. Love will save us all in ways we could never predict.

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer
to the problem of human existence.”
~Erich Fromm
XOXOXO

 

 

 

XXIV sonnet

A little poetic pause to accompany another beautiful Oklahoma sunset.
Love wraps us, warms us, and reminds us it is all grace.

sunset blue

 

Let the world’s sharpness, like a clasping knife,

Shut in upon itself and do no harm

In this close hand of Love, now soft and warm,

And let us hear no sound of human strife

After the click of the shutting. Life to life –

I lean upon thee, Dear, without alarm,

And feel as safe as guarded by a charm

Against the stab of worldlings, who if rife

Are weak to injure. Very whitley still

The lilies of our lives may reassure

Their blossoms from their roots, accessible

Alone to heavenly dews that drop not fewer,

Growing straight, out of man’s reach, on the hill,

God only, who made us rich, can make us poor.

~24th sonnet from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Thanks for visiting, friends! Hope to see you again later this week. Make it a really great one.
XOXOXOXO

baker’s dozen

Today Handsome and I celebrate thirteen years of marriage.

July 14, 2001 xoxo
July 14, 2001 xoxo

Thirteen sets of holidays, hundreds of church services, so many birthday parties, vacations, job changes, celebrations, animal adoptions and losses, fun bonfires, one scary house fire… And too many hospital stays and funerals.

In years past we have celebrated with trips, fancy dinners, and several days away from home. Away from it all, as they say. We’ve had hard times before, but mid-July was always a bright spot for us, a milestone and a reason to celebrate. We’ve been very blessed overall, despite some life challenges most couples face.

This year, life is challenging more than ever. Our foundations are strong but rumbling, and the parts of our heart that we thought might have healed by now certainly have not. Getting away from it all is not possible because location cannot erase some pains. And so home is exactly where we need to be. We’ve carved out a pretty good oasis here at the farm, and retreating behind the locked gate is sometimes the best idea.

We still have so many reasons to celebrate life, though, especially in our marriage. We have weathered storm after storm, growing stronger as individuals and as a couple month after month. What a gift to discover that you love and admire your spouse more deeply the more you see him navigate life. I know that not everyone experiences this, and I am so grateful.

sand initials

 

 

So here’s wishing my Handsome guy the happiest possible thirteenth anniversary. Thank you for your unending love, patience, and protection. Thank you for infusing my days with romance and for encouraging me to pursue my dreams. Thank you for never giving up, for helping me keep that quiet, private flame of hope alive and safe, for facing the world with me one curveball after another. Thank you for being a man who makes me proud in every possible way.

I love you always, now, & forever.
XOXOXO

Last Year’s Strength is This Year’s Inspiration

   Happy New Year friends! As we close the book on 2013 and open the first page for 2014, I am flooded with emotion. Absolutely drenched in thought and reflection on all the things we have experienced, suffered, learned, and enjoyed these past twelve months. A year ago I chose the word “strong” for the coming year, and it turns out I would need it more than expected.

   
   Learning to love these men more deeply, more generously, has required strength but it has offered me strength too. More than I ever thought possible. I am so thankful for them, so thankful to be Handsome’s wife and his father’s daughter-in-law.
   
   This little hobby farm of ours has seen wonderfully productive months, overflowing with eggs and veggies, herbs and fruits. I feel like a stronger gardener now and am so excited for the 2014 growing season. You know what takes strength in the garden? Dealing with broccoli caterpillars and squash bugs. 
  
   
   We have celebrated new life and soaked up all the magic that it brings. We have dealt well with animal injuries and illnesses and built a lot of strength for whatever comes next.
Dulcinea is so big now. We love her way too much. 
   
   And we have mourned heavily, bitterly. The anguish of grief that seems to come on a conveyor belt saps our strength and replenishes it all at once.
Judy Wreath
Tom Sawyer
My beloved Daphne
   We have made thousands of amazing memories with very dear friends in every corner of life. Handsome and I do not take lightly the gift of such close adult friendships. They have taught us a lot about ourselves, distracted us in painful times, and helped us laugh uncontrollably pretty much all the rest of the time. Our friends have been patient with us, too.
   This past year brought opportunities to reach new goals and be inspired toward bigger ones.
   And books have played such an important role in my life. I can say with a lot of joy that reading has infused me with much needed strength. I am so thankful for this. So thankful for my book club. So thankful for all of it.
   So what for this new year? Yesterday, New Year’s Eve, brought new worries and challenges for our little corner of paradise. All we could think yesterday was how overwhelmed we were, how tired and spent, how gun-shy of the next major life change (there have been so many this winter). But this morning? This morning I am full of brightness. Full of energy to dream big. 
   
   This morning I feel one-hundred percent inspired to not be desperate, but to be still and focused. To keep my face bent toward the Light, where I know Truth and Love and Peace reside.
  
   So…Happy New Year from the Lazy W! Handsome and I feel so grateful for this life we have been given and for the wonderful people who share it with us. We are once again on the verge of major life changes, so your prayers and love are appreciated, as always. 
   
   But we’re not afraid. We are strong. Filled with Love. Ready to face anything one day at a time. 
Much love from our home to yours!
XOXOXOXO

Icy Weekend, Ugly-Beautiful

   We woke before sunrise to the buzz of electronics losing power. An ice storm had moved through Oklahoma while we slept, and eventually the pale dawn revealed a hobby farm thickly encased by glassy, stubborn, frigid ice.

Oklahoma ice storms are beautiful but brutal.

   Our animals are all fine, thankfully. Their extra fat and fur are keeping them all plenty warm, and they also have shelter, high protein food, and forage. The power outage changes life inside the house significantly, though. And on a would-be very busy Saturday filled with holiday plans and tasks, succumbing to frustration would have been easy. But we really didn’t. (Not much, at least. wink!)

   Thanks in no small part to Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts, which gently nudges us to see the beauty in challenging situations, and also thanks to just a rich dose of Christmas cheer lately, my heart was light enough today to do just that. To see (mostly) magic in this unexpected Saturday Before Christmas. And you know what? Soon that is all I could see. I can’t even see the ugly any more.

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   I am so thankful for the breathtaking beauty of the gardens right now. These frozen herbs, these bent and frozen zinnias, all of this natural wonder in perfect wintry suspense.

When people say you can freeze your fresh herbs, this is probably not what they mean.

 
   It means we grew amazing things this year, that this little curve of earth is no longer void. It means that another swell of paradise is coming next year.

   I am so thankful for the freedom and ability to buy nice gifts for so many children we love. We do not take this for granted; nor do we take their presence in our life for granted. Handsome and I are very lucky to be called “Uncle” and “Aunt.” We cherish it. Have I ever mentioned to you that we have three million nieces and nephews? Well we do.

The Christmas memories you make are far more valuable than any gift you purchase. Please remember this.

  I am also thankful for the warm, pleasant feelings of nostalgia that washed over me all day, remembering so many little-girl Christmas seasons with our own children. This year, bitterly sad for so many new reasons, is oddly the first year I didn’t cry the whole time I shopped for gifts. In fact I caught myself giggling over and over, remembering so many fun things Handsome and I have done together over the years, things we did to surprise the girls and give them the best Christmas we could, year after year. Above all, we made memories. Now more than ever, this is clearly the most important part of all the work parents do at the holidays.

   I am so thankful for a messy living room, strewn with wrapping paper, Sonic ketchup packets, pine branches and other kindling, clean laundry, and unread books. I am thankful for the fluffy little dog my Father-in-Law has brought to live with us, because she brings so much new affection to our home. I am thankful for the paper whites blooming, for the pillows and soft blankets that beg us to cuddle, and for the candy canes, popcorn, and hot chocolate we can have for dinner. Because we’re grown ups and allowed to do that if we want.

The consolation of a deep, cold winter is a glowing living room.

   All of this means that we have a full life bursting with people we love and activities that truly nourish us. It means we have a home, not a perfect house. It means we work hard enough to relax on the weekend.

   I am so thankful for this small, colorful, happy little kitchen. I am thankful for this wall hook crafted my loving husband, loaded with slightly soiled aprons. I am thankful for that honey bee photo on canvas, a gift from our friend M when she and Hubs went to Alaska recently.

   This room reminds me that we always have plenty to eat. We often are surrounded here by people we love and who love us, and that I have been cooking lately with my youngest daughter, with friends, and by myself, feeding very special people, creating meals and desserts that nourish our bodies and make us priceless memories. 

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   Difficulties abound, no doubt about it. But so does sweetness. So do opportunities to make really special, one-of-a-kind memories. Love reigns supreme if we allow it to.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” ~Philippians 4:8

   I hope this finds you making the most of whatever circumstances are thrown your way. I hope your Christmas wish list is longer on “Fun to Have” and “Love to Show” than it is on “Things to Buy.” And I hope that, despite the romance of a power outage, you have all the electricity you need!

“He who has not Christmas in his heart
 will never find it under a tree.”
 ~Roy L. Smith
XOXOXOXO