Name Change!
I've had this blog for a few years now and, although the posts do not show it, have enjoyed writing on it. The name, however, needed some adjustment. It just wasn't right. So I hope you appreciate the new title. If it looks the same, it basically is with one change. Like a grammarian, I attempted to be clever with punctuation. Whereas at one time I wrote about one pilgrim, from now I write about two who progress together by God's grace.
On Friday, I asked Meredith to marry me! We are so excited as we look forward to this December. As Meredith is from Florida and I am a Californian, attempting to keep this a surprise has taken significant planning. She expected to be going to the mountains of North Carolina with her parents this weekend, but her parents and I had other plans. The schedule she anticipated was to have professional family photographs taken Friday on the beach and then to leave for the mountains the next morning. The beach photography was correct in that her parents would be taking the pictures and there she would find me waiting for her.
Her dad and I scoped out "the spot" the night before. On the secluded beach wood decking (approach) leading down to the beach, she found a rose and a poem I wrote for her. At the bottom of the ramp, I was waiting at the end of two rows of chinese lanterns. She was so surprised (shocked really at how she did not suspect anything) and happy!
I'm thankful to family and friends who have encouraged me in my life in waiting for God to bring that unique woman for me. He certainly does amaze me with His incomparable goodness. Below is the poem I wrote for Meredith, which she said I could share:
Who could have known, how this bud would have grown? Since sown, she was loved and cared for, the strength of that affection revealed by the length of her stem, all that she required for breadth and character, cultivated by a gardner's hands and good earth. Yes, there were dangers along the way, but a thick bramble was ready, pruning threats toward dismay. And in this home, with this support, the bud rose, tip tose to meet the sun's rays, standing strong in its gaze.
And God brought the bloom, crowned her life with beauty. Painted her person with vibrant colors and intricate details with fine brushstrokes to make all things beautiful in His time.
As this flower was appointed for more than one season, a day for plucking found a reason in an admirer's heart, when beauty was defined for him, cast in floral art. Turning his face to her, he presents himself as a vase to her. A reservoir in his base for her, she drinks her fill, basking in the sun, incubated by his love. Displayed in her windowed home, she is protected from all but the light of what's right as her beauty transcends transparent walls. And though she cannot dig deep to stand alone on her own, the welcome of her lean is never outgrown.
Though absent to wonder, when you were younger, now at the crest of an ocean of dreams, he waits for you in the plucking field.