It is the last day of Serenity’s chemo treatments!

She won’t be able to enjoy our celebration for a few days (see Mom’s post here), but feel free to share your celebratory remarks on her Facebook page (if you are a friend) or here in the comments section. It really helps them pass the day in the infamous chemo pod if they can hear from us throughout the day. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could just keep them distracted reading our cheery notes and encouragements? Go ahead, post a Scripture, a joke, a cute picture of your kids, anything — use your social networking powers for good, my friends!

By 3 p.m. or so today (Friday) the worst should be over.

Amen.

Tuesday night one of my students offered to take my girls to a basketball game. This opened up my evening schedule and spread before me a veritable feast of options for productivity. Would I write? Finish that book that lingers lonely on my bedside table? Clean a bathroom?

It had been a long day within a long week – which, I know, is technically impossible since a day can only be 24 hours, no more and no less – and I wasn’t sure where to put my limited amount of energy.

Then my Twitter feed announced a televised Mizzou game and I knew, that’s it. Not productive, not spiritual, not one among any of my options. But when I watch a Mizzou game on TV, it feels like home.

Jesse and I were home alone, so we microwaved frozen burritos, iced up some glasses, and settled in for an exciting game. Just what I needed.

Tonight I’ll be perfectly energized to trek to the gym to watch Jesse’s team play another team of local 5th graders, and that will feel like home, too. The squeak of shoes on the court, the whistle of the ref, the buzz of the game clock. I love it.

So today I’d like you to light up the comments section with the thing that makes you feel at home. Mine, for this week anyway, is a basketball game. And the people who play as well as the people who watch.

What common thing or place or person makes you feel at home?

Shall we dance?
On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?
Shall we dance?
Shall we then say “Goodnight” and mean “Goodbye”?
Or perchance,
When the last little star has left the sky,
Shall we still be together
With our arms around each other
And shall you be my new romance?
On the clear understanding
That this kind of thing can happen,
Shall we dance?
Shall we dance?
Shall we Dance?

There is a lot to love about The King and I musical. I saw a high school version this fall that starred one of my former kindergarten students as the leading man. I swooned on many levels. But this song is about much more than one couple on a stage. It is about us all.

In this case, the song asks us to take a risk. On each other. Even though we know it could mean a new relationship, which we all know means more work and the potential for hurt. But it could also mean friendship, love, comfort, support, challenge, growth, etc. We just have to take a chance. We have to both accept and extend the hand of friendship.

Even if we are very different people.

I caught a new show on Oprah’s network tonight: Our America with Lisa Ling. This episode was on faith healers and I grimaced at the opening shots. I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch.

But Ling’s debut was beautiful and  journalistic, not mean-spirited or sensational. I was moved by her genuine kindness and compassionate treatment of a controversial topic. In the end, she taught me something about faith being its own reward.

Perhaps our challenge then should be to accept a few new names on our dance cards this week, this month, or this year. Sure, maybe it will mean nothing. But maybe it will be more. And knowing that it might be, are you willing to take a chance?

Tell me, who or what is asking you to dance lately? Why not take a chance?
p.s. – go to Dan’s recent post for videos of our girls dancing . . . cuteness abounds.

It is the day after Valentine’s Day and maybe you feel great. Maybe you are basking in the glow of candy wrappers and cellophane wrapped carnations. Maybe you are carrying around a Hallmark card with your lover’s name scrawled at the bottom.

Or maybe not. Maybe you woke up to an ordinary Tuesday after an uneventful Monday. Maybe you feel a little grouchy, disappointed that your Valentine’s Day didn’t live up to all the hype.

Well, don’t forget – it really is hype. Whether it was everything you hoped for or everything you dreaded, you are infinitely more valuable than any recognition you received yesterday. You don’t need a holiday to know love. You can find it all around you.

Come on, quit smirking at me, you know it’s true!

Sink deep into the constant and abiding love of Christ today.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thank you, first of all, for this lovely holiday that finds its way into our culture and reminds us of the greatest virtue, love.

We don’t always respond in ways worthy of its namesake, but appreciate the chance to try. Happy Love Day!

To You, the one who knows love as a state of being and not as the temporal version we label as decisions, to you be the best of our thoughts and gestures on this special day.

You have loved us when we were unloveable. You have wept over us when we walked away. You have greeted us with enthusiasm when we found home again. You have celebrated us even in our immaturity.

You have not left us alone in the troubles of this world. You have not acted as we have acted: fickle, lazy, and unfaithful.

You are constant. You are love.

Always a patient parent, you do not strike us even when we bicker among ourselves. You do not take sides.

You wait. For our coming to our senses, our awaking from flesh sleep.

Never enough songs, never enough words, never enough deeds. We can’t repay, but we can respond.

We love you.

We love you.

Your divine destiny is NOT a default setting.

You may know what you are called by God to do in this life, but unless you do it, it won’t happen. There is action required on your part. In the chapel service this morning, the visiting pastor talked about character. He used Stephen the martyr as his example and reminded the students,

Build character BEFORE you need it.

And in case you are worried about someone else’s failure or mistakes messing up your divine destiny, remember this:

Your divine destiny is not a specific job, a geographical location, or a dream you want to fulfill. Your divine destiny is to be formed into the image of Christ.

That’s attainable for us all, thanks to Him.

An informative and challenging message on dating by Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill. Fair and non-legalistic treatment of a controversial topic. Let me know what you think if you watch the whole thing. (They let him preach for an hour at Mars Hill? I thought the cool Christians didn’t do that anymore.)

Check out the music video for the song “Manifesto” by The City Harmonic. Great song. Even better crowd. I love enthusiasm about faith.

And a heads-up for the week. I’m thinking about giving God a Valentine. I know – sounds cheesy – but I’m looking into it. Start thinking, loves.