What is true love?

Have you ever experienced true love? Yesterday I visited my Aunt, it has been five weeks now since she lost her true love. I can't imagine losing my soul mate, spending 42 years of my life with them, only to lose them. The words, "it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all," comes to mind. As much as I know she hurts right now, if I were to ask her if she would do it all over again, she would most definitely say yes.
I have visited with her several times over the past five weeks. Her heart grieves so deeply, deeper than I can truly comprehend. She has had some really tough days, and I know she has more ahead of her. Saturday she received a phone call from someone who did not have knowledge of my Uncle's passing, she picked up the phone and was asked if Leon was there. I can imagine in her heart, for a brief second it probably felt so normal, picking up the phone and hearing someone ask to speak to Leon. But then, it all came crashing down on her as reality set in, she began to explain his death to the person on the other end of the phone. She spent the next few hours making phone calls, and trying to find someone to talk to. She just needed someone, anyone. Every number she dialed, it seemed no one was available, leaving her alone to think about everything she did not want to think about at that moment.
I went to visit her yesterday, we spent an hour talking to each other. She was able to spend the day with a friend and get out of the house. I was fixing to leave, and she told me to hold on a minute. I walked back to her bedroom with her, she had been going through some of his clothes and wanted me to take some of them to my dad. She had 2 shirts lying on the bed, and she picked them up and asked me to smell of them. She picked up one held it to her face and breathed in through her nose, she said this one still has the smell of his cologne. She picked up the next one and once again lifted it to her face before asking me to smell of the shirt. She said this one has been washed, but it still smells just like him. The shirts were lying on her bed because she sleeps with them at night. She wants to be able to smell him lying next to her while she sleeps.
As much as she hurts, she would never wish this hurt on him. She told me that if one of them had to go before the other, she was glad it happened the way it did. She said she would have never wished this kind of hurt on him, and feared that she did not feel it would have been something he could have handled. That is true love. Every second she grieves for him, she proves the love she has for him.
I know I have the same love in my life. My husband never misses a moment of showing his love to me and appreciating me. Sometimes I catch him just staring at me, and there is the most loving smile on his face. I know there is nothing he wouldn't do for me. He doesn't talk about how pretty women on TV are, he always lets me know how beautiful he thinks I am. He always makes me feel as though I am the only girl he wants to look at and be with. I don't feel like I have to measure up to all of the other beautiful women in the world. I love my husband with all my heart, and I know one day one of was will be grieving the same way that my Aunt grieves today. But our love is worth it all.

It's not an ordinary day

As our pastor said today, it's our choice to make this an ordinary day. It was not an ordinary day for my house. It's not even an ordinary week. Today I taught the kids that we all have choices to make. We must choose to brush our teeth everyday, if not our teeth become ugly, and they begin to hurt. We must choose to feed ourselves everyday, because if we don't our bodies become weak, and we will not survive. You may be wondering what choices my family made this week to make it an un-ordinary week for us.
First I want to say that I am so proud of my husband, because he is choosing to live a healthier lifestyle, he no longer must take blood pressure medications. We would think that little things like watching what we eat so we could be healthier would seem an easy task, but it's not. I know I have an addiction to food, i just love the taste of certain foods. My husband and I were talking, and we decided that we should not think of food as something we desire to have, yet it is fuel for our bodies. I know it has not been an easy choice for my husband to make on a daily basis, but he is starting to feel so much better.
Second, I want to say that as a parent this is one of the proudest days of my life. Matt and I have been talking to Zach and praying with Zach all week. the other night, I watched Matt as he taught Zach how to build a bird house. It became a lot more than a father and son working in the shop, that night his daddy taught him much more than how to build a bird house. That night his daddy also taught him how to accept Jesus into his life. The week went on and Matt and I continued to pray with him and teaching him that he was the only one who could make this decision in his life. Tonight I sat in the floor, with my baby boy sitting in my lap. Tears streaming down my face, I began to explain to him that I knew the day he was born that God had special plans for his life. Time and time again God has spoke to Matt and I through our son. As I began talking to him about the salvation of Jesus Christ, he began to cry. Wiping the tears from his eyes, and the tears still streaming down my face, he told me he was ready to accept Jesus into his heart. He wanted his Daddy to come and pray with him, and Matt lead him through accepting Christ into his heart.
My family will all be together in heaven some day. What a great peace and great joy for my family, knowing that we have all made that decision. It is not an ordinary day in the Duke house. Soon my daughter and son will be baptized together, and I will cherish this very un-ordinary day for the rest of my life. I am thankful for the love of Jesus Christ, my heart is so overwhelmed with joy right now that I can't even think of the right words to say. Other than I am very thankful for this most wonderful day.