When Love Has Now Become A Proper Noun

The sonnet is a form of poetry made famous by Shakespeare. The typical sonnet consists of 14 lines.

The marriage dance requires only two.
So dare I talk of love in such a way?
The man is me, the woman must me be you,
But love is here and now this love must stay.
It entered in when we did least expect,
Though embodied in a man so long ago.
That love in us He seeks now to reflect
So I see you when I see him still more.
Now from above its given hands and feet,
It has a heart and breathes with its own lungs.
It moves and grips us when our eyes do meet,
And fills with wordless songs our souls have sung.
This marriage is enveloped all around,
When love has now become a proper noun.

(Written for my wife in honor of our 14th anniversary.)

14 Years of Marriage

The Floors

After a short debate over light or dark, we settled on dark and the floors were stained yesterday.  They still need varnished, but these pictures can give you an idea of what they will look like.

All thanks to my Father-In-Law!

Piper's Sabbatical

Pastor John Piper is taking a sabbatical. Here is an excerpt from a letter on the Desiring God website:

I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem.

But on the other hand, I see several species of pride in my soul that, while they may not rise to the level of disqualifying me for ministry, grieve me, and have taken a toll on my relationship with Noël and others who are dear to me. How do I apologize to you, not for a specific deed, but for ongoing character flaws, and their effects on everybody? I’ll say it now, and no doubt will say it again, I’m sorry. Since I don’t have just one deed to point to, I simply ask for a spirit of forgiveness; and I give you as much assurance as I can that I am not making peace, but war, with my own sins.

He goes on to reaffirm that it isn't because of one particular sin, which is what most of us think when a guy says he is going on a sabbatical to work on his marriage. My mind started heading that direction right away. What really struck me was this next comment:

In 30 years, I have never let go of the passion for public productivity. In this leave, I intend to let go of all of it. No book-writing. No sermon preparation or preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports. No papers. And no speaking engagements.

A "passion for public productivity" is not something that I struggle with, with but I could understand that drive in slightly different ways. I have found at work in me, though I would normally characterize myself as a lazy bum, an increasing desire to be productive, to get something done all of the time, everyday. I get up early everyday, even days off so I can accomplish something. I have spent this spring break working, from the time I got up to the time I went to bed.

What is the balance between taking time off and "redeeming the time" (Eph. 5:16)? I am not sure.

Photo Friday: Blurred

Photo Friday Topic This Week: Blurred

I haven't done Photo Friday in a while, but I just so happened to have the perfect picture for this week's topic.

When Boys Color Eggs

They aren't as pretty as normal...

A Few Finished Rooms

A few of the rooms at our house are finished.

The Master Bedroom

The TV Room / Study

The Bathroom 

The Kitchen

The upstairs and the boys rooms are also finished, but I don't have pictures of those yet.  The trim (around the doors of the two rooms and the bathroom isn't done yet, but here is a picture of the trim.