I love you, you love me...

"I love you, you love me..."

I heard the Barney song repeatedly when my kids were younger. Daily for awhile. Ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
A goofy purple dinosaur singing about love. Hmm...

Years and years have passed now. Kids have grown up, family members have passed ahead of us on to heaven, life has changed in ways I couldn't have imagined, and in some ways probably would not have thought I could survive.

"We're a happy family..."


We've never pretended to be perfect. Our kids know well our faults. We fight, we make up, we cry,  we love, we work hard, we play games...we all know each others' weaknesses and strengths, can sometimes be unthinking, other times kind-- but in the end, love each other deeply. I'm thankful for the stick-to-itiveness we've managed to show. I hope when our kids are older, the one thing they will remember is the love.

"With a great big hug, and a kiss from me to you..."


Life is messy. That's a well-worn phrase, but true. Life IS messy, if we love hard and live long enough. As much as I'd like things arranged into neat little compartments, that isn't the way it goes. Life can be a funny old thing. But it's amazing how much a little kiss and a hug can help.

"Won't you say you love me, too?"


And isn't that the most important thing, after all? Love. I think Barney may have been pretty smart.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

And now, these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

 (photos courtesy of my daughter, Grace... taken at Ft. Washington)