i'll love you forever...

"i'll love you forever,

i'll like you for always,

as long as im living my baby you'll be"

this was my favorite book growing up. each night my mom would read it to me before i went to bed. i can still remember what each page looks like..the paintings, the placement of the words and how with each flip of the page, the boy gets older and his life becomes full of more emotion, thoughts and experiences.

after meeting with a wise friend of mine today, i feel as if i have forgotten the significant things that have shaped me. as i was talking with him today, i became teary-eyed. i stopped the conversation, and i said, " im sorry, i don't know why i'm starting to cry" and he said, with a long pause before it.

"because it's significant." 

yes. it is. i have traded significane and innocence for maturity and a gloss-over mentality. losing my daddy nearly 19 years ago was hard. tragic. emotional. void of though. and here i am, 19 years later, still being bothered by things that i feel as if i should have "matured" from by now. 

once again, i am reminded of scripture where Paul is writing a note to those in Philippi, thanking them and giving them instruction on christian unity. "according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing i shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death." philippians 1:20. for christ to be magnified...glorified...worshipped, by life or by death. 

life and death. its such a mystery. society try's to show us ways to bring back "life" to our bodies, whether by plastic surgery or botox..but death that is something no one is comfortable with. it is too much of question for people to think about, so they gloss over it. but with what paul wrote to the church in philippi, christ is to be magnified by life or by death. his glory is to be revealed in and through us through all stages of life.

so cling to the majesty of our lord. find rest and peace and redemption in his glory. cry when you need to. laugh when you want to, but remember why it is that we are here. to bring glory to god...in any stage of "life."

trying to take my christmas gift from my daddy :)