1. I am watching the news tonight on the computer -- the blizzard back East is dominating, and I feel pretty powerless watching storm coverage. I hope and pray everyone on the East Coast stays warm tonight and tomorrow.
2. Speaking of prayer, I have been doing some more of that this year than I was through this time last year. That is my word for the year, after all. Prayer is definitely needed, and it is helpful. I really feel it is important to listen for God's voice in prayer -- I was given a hint years ago that stuck with me -- the voice of God is always affirming, always the one that says "I love you" -- don't listen to all the other stuff, and God will come through.
3. Not to get too preachy, someone asked me years ago if I ever thought about love as an entity. As I did, love started to seem a lot like God, and God, after all, is love. To me, love isn't so much about romance or special days (though those can be important), it is the act of patiently waiting, of kindly sacrificing, of cheerfully giving, of choosing to put the other person ahead of yourself. Paul wrote the best description of love in 1 Corinthians 13. The kind of love he writes about in that chapter is only possible through the love of God.
4. Reminders about Valentine's Day are all over the airwaves -- usually from jewelry companies. Our whole culture is commercial, and I still want to celebrate Christmas, as opposed to Valentine's Day, but time marches forward. I can't believe the first week of February is already gone.
5. Reading Thomas Jefferson's biography reminded me of one of my favorite classes at Stanford -- American Lit to 1855 -- the title of the class isn't that exciting, but the professor was great, and we got to read Jefferson's "head and heart" letter to Maria Cosway in that class. It really is fun -- here's a link to the letter: http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/archives/documents/frame_ih195811.htm.
6. Reading that biography immersed me again in the 18th century language -- I rediscovered words like "calumny" and all kinds of other four-syllable words that I'm forgetting now. The language of that era is fascinating and a little dense. If not for the audiobook version, I might not have gotten through the biography.
7. Finally, I almost bought Ken Burns' Civil War documentary at Sam's Club the other day. I watched most of this 40-hour work on PBS in high school (yes, I was a nerd), and I really enjoyed the beauty of the letters and the folk music in those movies. The only reason I didn't get the disc set is I don't think I'll have time to watch it any time soon.
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