Love Actually is All Around

I have today off of work for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and was able to watch some of the Inauguration Ceremony.  It made me think back on where I was four years ago on that historic day.  I was at work in a conference room (12B if I remember correctly) watching what I could over my lunch hour.  I was with my coworkers, who are also dear friends, and we watched history unfold before our eyes. What was going on in my life four years ago? My nephew, Drew, was just born. (That's a picture of us to the left. I just had the cast removed from my broken elbow when this picture was taken). I had no idea how much this little man would change my life.  It's like the story of the Grinch.  My small heart grew 4 times the day he was born, and it continues to grow the more time I spend with him.  He is a light in my life.  I didn't know, four years ago, that my niece Kate would enter the world in 2010.  Again, my heart grew in impossible ways when she e...

I am not a morning person.  Just ask my college roommate, Trisha.  Thankfully, she was not a morning person either. We had a standing rule in room 112: Do not speak to one another until both roommates have showered.  It's not that I'm mean in the morning. I just need about an hour or so of silence and solitude to be ready to face the world. Maybe this is an introvert thing? Anyway.  I take the train to work every day and this affords me about 40 minutes of silence and solitude to prepare for thoughtful interaction with others. I often spend this time reading or catching up on email. Sometimes I just stare out the window or listen to music. But I am not communicating with anyone - at least not verbally.  Once I get to work, I pour myself a cup of coffee and am ready to face the day.  No one talks on the train in the morning. I was talking about this with my Texan friend (the one and only) and he claims this is part of our culture in the Chicago area - peop...

I was falling asleep last night and the intro to Love Actually was running through my mind. Chick flick? Yes. But the intro is worth watching. It is a simple concept. Love actually is all around.　 As I've been contemplating the start of a new year, I've been challenged to really live that concept. We are in the season of Epiphany on the church calendar. It is a season to remind us that miracles of love happen all around us. In the mundane. In the ordinary.　Jesus was born while his parents were traveling for the census. (Pregnant. And on a donkey.)   Mary gave birth in a manger, with livestock around witnessing this miracle. Miracles of love happen in the most unexpected ways in the most unexpected places. Love actually is all around. I am reading Fall of Giants and was reminded again of this concept from the character Billy. I haven't finished the book yet, but one story in the first chapter really touched me. Follett is a brilliant writer, so I'll let you read his...