Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. I decided to start a new one, considering that I use my other blog both to share photos and stories about my kids and to write about things I'm pondering in my head. So, I leave the other for kid photos and stories, and this one is for ponderings.

I've described in my profile the intent of this blog. Basically, I want a space to share thoughts about loving creatively. That may sound strange. I'm not a very "flowery" or emotional person. creativeLOVE may come across that way. But I can't think of a better way of describing what I am thinking.

First, there is our Creator God. The ONE who defines, epitomizes, reflects truest love is a Creator. He makes Himself known through His created order, and He delights in beauty. What's more, He makes us beautiful, and sets His delight on us. Thus, creative and love, part 1.

Second, at a certain point in college, I found myself with a desire to marry a "creative" man. I'm not quite sure where it came from, because in my twenty something years of life I had spent a lot of time with math/science types and very limited time with artistic types. But something "woke up." It didn't take me but a date or two with Stan to figure out he had that bent. I remember noticing something very different about how he processed dialogue, and how he took notice of particularities in me that others would pass by. And so, not many months later, I married the man who got down on the floor in Goldsmith's in Memphis arranging place settings of everyday china...alternating squares and circles....and who had more of an opinion about silver patterns than I did.

And then, Ginna was born. I am not sure two people 28 years apart and of opposite gender could be more alike. She is a young, female Stan. Very regularly each sheds light for me to help me understand the other.

Lately, I have been impressed with the need for specific, and even creative expressions of love. I am not just talking about doing creative things for my family. I am talking about a thought process, one that seeks what is most meaningful and loving in particular scenarios. This comes into play time and again with the kids: in how I discipline, talk to them, pray for them, and think about and talk about them. And it comes into play in marriage: how we support one another, show love, and even handle disagreements.

So, that's creativeLOVE..... welcome!