This poem was read by Josh's sister Jaimee at our wedding. Josh had originally laid out rose petals and marked the poem in a book for me one night when I came home from work. He wasn't even there to watch me read it. He knew I had had a long night and wanted to cheer me up, it worked. It is gorgeous and full of passion. It reminds me of how amazing love is and how much I love him.
Enjoy!
THE INDIAN SERENADE
by: Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822)
ARISE from dreams of thee
In the first sweet sleep of night,
When the winds are breathing low,
And the stars are shining bright.
I arise from dreams of thee,
And a spirit in my feet
Hath led me -- who knows how?
To thy chamber window, Sweet!
The wandering airs they faint
On the dark, the silent stream--
And the Champak's odours [pine]
Like sweet thoughts in a dream;
The nightingale's complaint,
It dies upon her heart,
As I must on thine,
O belovèd as thou art!
O lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Let thy love in kisses rain
On my lips and eyelids pale.
My cheek is cold and white, alas!
My heart beats loud and fast:
O press it to thine own again,
Where it will break at last!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Picture of Young Love
This is Annie and I on the night we got engaged. Annie had no idea what was going on. It was her birthday and she thought that the candles, flowers, and Proverbs 31 were just gifts. Then I popped the question.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Passion and Providence
I didn't know that Annie still had those emails. When you read something like that it takes you back to when you originally wrote it and the first response is always "Wow I cannot believe that I was that dorky." But after the initial shock of my complete un-kooleness (read my email to Annie, towards the bottom. Terrible!!) I am brought to one place, I LOVE MY WIFE! I have so much passion for her today, right now, even though I am thousands of miles away and we have been married for almost 7 years. I love her more right now than I ever have before, because I know her better. I have always loved her spirit and her love for God and her beauty, but as the years have passed I have seen these things in practice.
I have seen her spirit in being willing to join me in the painful ministry of Navy Chaplaincy. I have felt her love for God grow through the difficult times we have had with Bella. And I have seen her beauty increase as she has gone from being a wife, to a mother and a wife. Annie is more beautiful to me now than she ever has been before, and she is my treasure, and she is the greatest friend that God could ever give me.
To change subjects now, I have been having difficult days here on deployment. Many of my fellow sailors have made it a point to inform me, in a myriad of different ways, that they think I don't really do anything and that I am basically a waste of a uniform. This is easy enough to laugh off at first but it begins to gnaw after a while.
Today in my bible reading and prayer time I came across some crumpled up papers in my backpack. They were all part of a letter that my friend Joe Gahagan had written to me before I left on this deployment (Joe forgive me for letting them get lost and crumpled). In the letter, written 6 weeks ago, Joe encourages me for the ministry that will come during the deployment. He also encourages me to not be discouraged by the assaults of others who seek to demean the Gospel and my working for its spreading.
The providence of God is so good. If you don't think much about the providence of God YOU SHOULD! My heart and my faith have been greatly encouraged over the years by keeping an eye out for the providence of God working in my life and in the lives of others. God has promised that He will work all things out for our good and for the Gospels good (Rom 8:28). And that good is to know HIM more. To feel God more through His son, to know of His work in our lives through past experiences, and to have hope and joy in the blood bought redemption of Christ.
Joe's letter was a providential expression of God's commitment to be for me. He will always be for me. Thanks Joe for writing the letter, but utmost, Thanks Be to God.
Josh
I have seen her spirit in being willing to join me in the painful ministry of Navy Chaplaincy. I have felt her love for God grow through the difficult times we have had with Bella. And I have seen her beauty increase as she has gone from being a wife, to a mother and a wife. Annie is more beautiful to me now than she ever has been before, and she is my treasure, and she is the greatest friend that God could ever give me.
To change subjects now, I have been having difficult days here on deployment. Many of my fellow sailors have made it a point to inform me, in a myriad of different ways, that they think I don't really do anything and that I am basically a waste of a uniform. This is easy enough to laugh off at first but it begins to gnaw after a while.
Today in my bible reading and prayer time I came across some crumpled up papers in my backpack. They were all part of a letter that my friend Joe Gahagan had written to me before I left on this deployment (Joe forgive me for letting them get lost and crumpled). In the letter, written 6 weeks ago, Joe encourages me for the ministry that will come during the deployment. He also encourages me to not be discouraged by the assaults of others who seek to demean the Gospel and my working for its spreading.
The providence of God is so good. If you don't think much about the providence of God YOU SHOULD! My heart and my faith have been greatly encouraged over the years by keeping an eye out for the providence of God working in my life and in the lives of others. God has promised that He will work all things out for our good and for the Gospels good (Rom 8:28). And that good is to know HIM more. To feel God more through His son, to know of His work in our lives through past experiences, and to have hope and joy in the blood bought redemption of Christ.
Joe's letter was a providential expression of God's commitment to be for me. He will always be for me. Thanks Joe for writing the letter, but utmost, Thanks Be to God.
Josh
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