Laurie

Love Intentionally, Extravagantly, Unconditionally

“Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you“.– L.R. Knost

 

Meditations in Motion
An Oregon Sunflower

 

I have just returned from three weeks of visiting my far-flung family. My brief time with them reinforces my belief that we need to show love improvidently, freely, and fervently while we have the opportunity.

With family, those we love the most, for some reason, it’s easy to get bogged down in the petty emotions. Don’t.

Don’t be offended by an imagined (or even a real) slight. Don’t be meek, afraid to love too much or too openly. Don’t be an ascetic, hoarding your love for some imagined time in the future when love will be more convenient.

Give those you love all of your love today. Do it now.

Then do it all over again tomorrow too.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  – John 13:34

I am linking with Cee’s Flower of the Day, Welcome Heart for Let’s Have Coffee, Debbie at Dare 2 Hear,  Amy at Live Life Well, Raisie Bay for Word of the Week, Susan B Mead for Dancing With Jesus, Embracing the Unexpected for Grace and Truth, Random-osity for Little Things Thursdays, Reflections From Me for A Blogging Good Time, Knit by God’s Hand for Thankful Thursdays, Morgan’s Milieu for Post, Comment, Love, and Counting My Blessings for Faith ‘n Friends.

Please click on the following link to read more funny or inspirational one-liners. One-Liner Wednesday.

Meditations in Motion

74 comments

  9. That Oregon sunflower is amazing! What a blessing that you were able to visit your family all across the states. You’re right that we need to be intentional and extravagant every chance we get with our loved ones! Thanks for sharing about your journeys. I’m sure all were blessed by the time together.

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  11. You are lucky to be able to visit your family members now that you’re retired Laurie. You’re also lucky to have family. Cherish them every chance you get, just as your post says. I have no family and when I did it was very small. Enjoy them!

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    • I do cherish my time with family. Thank you, Linda. We are currently in Cape Cod again, visiting my sister and her husband. It’s a much quieter visit than when we were here for the 4th of July and I am enjoying it very much! You have created a blogging family for yourself! 🙂

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      • I have created a blogging family and I am grateful for them Laurie. That’s why I felt so badly when I was so behind, but it happens and like the others, I just moved on and will deal with the ebbs and flows of life and keeping up in due course.

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      • I have been so far behind with responding to comments (as you can tell) too, Linda. I guess life happens sometimes and there are only so many hours in a day. If blogging ever is not fun, we don’t have to do it anymore. I am really enjoying it now, though!

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      • I am enjoying it too Laurie … I got behind due to work and catastrophes at the house, but you have a good reason for being behind. It’s easier to catch up and stay caught up once the snow flies (hopefully not for a while in PA or MI).

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      • So true. My family don’t live near by and for that reason we don’t talk very much. It’s difficult to show your love to people you don’t see often but we should try to make more of an effort. #WotW

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      • I hope so too. This son once took a bunch of sunflower photos and framed them in a collage for me. He was a good photographer (like you!) but doesn’t really do it anymore.

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      • Well that was thoughtful of your son – I am going to go to a sunflower festival in September. Because I don’t trust the weather anymore – we can’t have all weekends like this one was weather-wise, I got a season pass so I can go in October to a pumpkin patch event.
        So the sunflower festival is over two weekends – surely one day out of those two weekends will be good for taking pictures, so I hope I can live up to that compliment. Their website advised booking your ticket or pass in advance to avoid long lines for general admission, so I decided to do that. They have planted lavender at this farm too so next Summer they will have 40 rows of lavender and will have a lavender festival next Summer. We have some of those lavender festivals in Michigan, but none around here. I am thinking ahead of warm events to get through the Winter.

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      • Have fun at your sunflower festival, Linda. There is a farm near here that has a sunflower field and a corn maze right next to each other. There is one price admission to both and you get a sunflower to take home after you complete the corn maze. I think I will ask the grandchildren if they want to do the corn maze. I will look forward to seeing your sunflower photos. They are one of my absolute favorites!

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      • We get a donut to take home with us. There is a corn maze as well and bounce houses for the kids. I actually sent them a message and asked if I could pay to come this weekend if the sunflowers were “ready” as I knew it would be nice and I’d skip the cornmaze and bounce house anyway, but they don’t have any visitors until the first day on September 7th.
        The admission for the pass includes all four days of the festival plus the whole month of October at the pumpkin patch – I’ve never been to one, so hope it will make some good photos as well and a fun visit.

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      • I guess they make them on site so they are known for their donuts. It does sound fun – I’m looking forward to it, and surely the weather won’t be bad all of the four days of the two-weekend festival, but I have an event for September 8th smack in the middle of the day. I booked a lighthouse tour last year and it was torrential rain. They only offer the lighthouse tour by the historical society one afternoon per year. I took a leap of faith – hopefully it is nicer weather this year. You have to pay in advance as well, so it’d be nice if it is not torrential rain this year – although I do concede it is inside, but it is only 40 feet tall.

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      • I hope the weather cooperates for the lighthouse tour and the sunflower field one as well. We have a race scheduled for September 8, so I am hoping for a rain-free day in PA too!

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  16. “The light that is you.”
    Turning that phrase over and over as I was reading.
    Thanks for this encouraging thought, and also for sharing family pictures. I go back and forth in my “policy” about how much family stuff to post in my own writing. It’s such a gift to us that we really want to share it far and wide!

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    • I was a little bit apprehensive about sharing the photos too but decided to show the faces of those I write about so often. It IS a gift. One that I am thankful for every day!

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  22. How lovely to spend some time with your family. We have a big household here and we are constantly getting in each other’s way or winding each other up. We know deep down though, that we always have the love to get us through. Thanks for linking up to #wotw

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