Fifty Loves

I was going through old files, trying to decide what to keep on the new laptop, and what to discard. The following list caught my eye, though I have not seen or thought of it in months. It was the result of a conversation with a friend, and I'm glad that I did make it. I need to be reminded regularly of all that I have--for it is all of grace.

Things that I love, in no particular order

The cross of Christ
1 John – all of it
Hebrews 11 and 12
Psalm 42
Listening to my little brother tell a story
Daddy reading aloud the Chronicles or The Faerie Queene, or Winnie the Pooh
Mama’s absolute devotion to God, to truth, and to serving her family
The silver watch that Carolyn gave me for my 20th birthday.
My little sisters’ green eyes
Singing over the dishes
The slopes of Umbria, in Italy, covered with silver olive trees
The Gardens of Tiberius, on Capri
Christ’s gentleness with his disciples in the face of their pride and ignorance
That peculiarly deep and clear, yet bright, blue that appears only in the sky at twilight, in October.
Fireflies in June
Yellowstone National Park, especially Lamar Valley
The big gunboat and sword collection in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, that fired my imagination as a ten-year-old
The Gems section of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
That odd, diamond-shaped garden inside the National Cathedral, the one you can only find by stumbling across it
Dancing with Mike
The Saturday-morning court that Mom and Dad hold in their bedroom every week, when all of us wander in, pajama-clad, to loll and talk and cuddle until breakfast
A quietly rainy afternoon, when the children are doing schoolwork without complaint, the house has just been cleaned, soft worship music is playing, and I have time to putter around the kitchen making lasagna for dinner.
The way my brothers treat me, like a child to be looked after, a friend to be told secrets, a soul to enjoy, a girl to tease
The last few verses of the Song of Songs. “Love is strong as death…”
The times when David will insist that I stop and listen to a new song from Rhapsody, because he just can’t wait to have me hear it
Wandering through the piano songbooks in a quiet hour, playing old favorites and perfecting new ones
Playing the piano with Mike
Bouncing on the trampoline with Marjorie
Long walks in the woods with Nate
Pink roses, Queen Anne’s Lace, bleeding heart, and lilies.
A garden on a summer evening, with a small pool of water nearby, a few candles burning, the remains of dinner, the faces of my family growing steadily more shadowed, their voices more distinct and subtle, as daylight fades
Key Lime Pie
Italian cappuccino
Watching Daddy charm animals
Watching all of my dear ones grow in grace
The way that babies and children adore Nathan, and he them
Charity singing
Dear friends, long tried and well proven
Reading Shakespeare, especially bench-readings, or watching Shakespeare performed well
The sound of light splashing down from stained-glass windows. It does have a sound.
Thanksgiving family reunions at Uncle Jim’s stone and stained-glass church in DC; First Baptist Church.
Scotland
Particular songs, too many to name… but also the general works of GLAD, Latin chants, hymns (Jesus I My Cross Have Taken), and the Les Miserables soundtrack
Books that I am reading for the fifth time, and finding them fresher, more vivid, than ever before
Catching sight of a well-loved title in a bookstore.
Latin
Living for Christ
The Odyssey
Sailing with Grandpa in the Afterglow, the Gem, or the Lookfar.
The joy and pain of “higher up and further in.”