If you're a bird... I'm a bird.

Hi friends,

The title of this blog is a line from the movie "The Notebook". While watching what may go down in history as one of the best love-story-chick-flicks of all time, I remember chuckling a bit when hearing that line. It just seemed so silly. But... I digress... this entry is not about "The Notebook" at all. It is about birds... just roll with me. I promise I'll make some assemblance of a point eventually.

Yesterday was a wonderful Friday. Not only do I finish work at 2PM on Fridays, it was payday and one of the nicest days I've seen since we rolled into 2006. On my drive into work yesterday morning, I had the windows open and the music turned up. It was wonderful, so wonderful in fact, that I paused a while before heading into the office. During that small (yet enjoyable) pause, I heard the sing-songy warble of whatever bird reminds me of April mornings at the elementary school bus stop. A definite Spring Song in the middle of February. I smiled to myself and looked into the sky hoping to see the cotton-like clouds that line the skies on spring mornings. Instead, I witnessed the chaotic dance of hundreds of birds. All of them spinning, soaring, darting and diving; flying in what seemed to be gleeful abandon to the nearest telephone wire or rooftop. They would dart up high and swerve to the left, cris-crossing over other birds in their path. I must have been standing in that parking lot for a few solid minutes and there was never a break in their sky-dance. Granted, all these birds were borderline creepy...like Poe's The Raven meets Cinderella's singing canary... but at the same time, it made me think (shocking!).

Just three days before, it had snowed in Waterloo. On this particular Friday morning, the sun was shining and it was 50+ degrees. I truly believe those birds thought it was spring. They assumed winter had ended and it was time to return from down south. These birds were joyfully welcoming themselves back home. After a while of standing beside my car (occasionally hoping noone was watching me from any number of the nearby windows), I finally gave up and realized the end of this sky-dance would not be anytime soon and I went inside.
The cool (and pretty weird) thing about that experience is that I could relate to those birds at that moment. Granted, I'm extremely afraid of heights and that whole spending the duration of my life in flight thing kinda creeps me out... but just like those bids... a season has changed in my life. Another winter has seemingly melted away and I am sky-dancing my way into Spring. Those birds had no fears about returning to Iowa for the springtime, they were coming back home with wreckless abandon and seemingly loving every second of it. Those crazy winged-creatures were taking a huge risk, making the trip all the way back home after hearing about only one day of sunshine (a little bird must have told them! ha! too funny). They flew home anyway, despite the chance that their next sunrise might bring winter right back where it started.

Today, we realize that winter never left. It's 32 degrees and dropping. I don't know where those birds are today... but I do know that they came, they danced, and they lived for one whole day of the comforting Iowa sunshine.
It will be spring soon enough... and perhaps those birds will laugh at themselves down the road. They will sit around their nests chirping about how much fun they had during their February sky-dance. While they remember a time that once was... I will find my own sky-dance and, with joyful abandon, spin and soar and dart and dive.

"If you're a bird, I'm a bird"
Tempa

A letter to friends on Valentines day...

Dear Friends,

It is 10:38 in the evening and as the mild winter wind sweeps over the flat landscape where I now reside, I realize that only a mere two hours stands between me and the day all singles have grown to loathe. I have spent the last week unpacking my soul from cardboard boxes- finding new homes for all of the worldly possessions that have accumulated over the last 24 years. Two weeks ago I once again left behind walls that have within them a testimony to who I am and the company I keep. In all of my many moves, however, I have carried you with me. You... my dear friends... live in and out of photographs, mix CD's, and decorated boxes. In preparing for this most recent relocation, I found myself sifting through the sands of time and rediscovering the good old days through anticipation of the new ones. I spent hours on my knees cleaning the corners of my past in order to dirty the corners of my future, and I found myself listening to such things as Simon and Garfunkle, Indigo Girls, Savage Garden, loud rad 80's rock ballads, and the Dawson's Creek Soundtrack volumes one and two. I found pictures of us at 20, some of us at 15, some even younger, and some recent. I found pictures from formals, from the awkward stage, from the yearbook with our heads meticulously tilted at just the perfect angle- photographs from years past permanently etching a page in my history that I will never overlook. I found your letters and re-read your words. Somehow, I know you meant every word when you wrote them... I only hope I am able to hear them again. My hands fell over the small trinkets and gifts I have received as I placed them on bookshelves and endtables. Things I was given as gifts and things I kept simply because they reminded me of you. Finding new homes for small pieces of things that once were, allowed me to once again touch a piece of time that no longer exists. Something that is only to be found again in closeted shoe-boxes after the corners of my room have been dirtied.

For the little bits of everything that you have contributed to my life- and for all the contributions yet to be made... I thank you. To those old and new- to relationships lost and relationships recovered-TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS- I love you. I love you for being who you are and for sharing a piece of yourself with me. You have given of yourself and in the process made my life overwhelmingly full- and I am grateful...

Forever,
Tempa

Love, or lack there of...

Hi friends,
It is that time of year again. The time of year when the aisles of your nearest Walgreens become filled to the rafters with red-foil covered chocolate kisses and far-too-expensive greeting cards. Time as come again for mushy love poems and sappy 80's rock-ballads (although... in my opinion... it is ALWAYS time for a sappy 80's rock-ballad). Valentine's day is just around the corner and in honor of ye ol' St. Valentine... I will blog this evening on Love.
In my near 24 years of existence on this planet, I have come to realize that the world is desperate for love. Each one of us longs to love and be loved, but we often we misunderstand what exactly that entails. So instead, we use the word 'love' in casual conversation - I love ice cream... I love my Jeep... I love my new Jimmy Choo's.

We foolishly link one of the strongest human emotions to things that essentially have no worth. I have also come to learn that in order to find the true meaning of what Love really is, we must turn our gaze upward, for the Lord is Love Himself. Many of you have heard the word "Agape" used to describe love. Agape, an ancient greek work commonly used in the Bible, never refers to romantic feelings or the "tickle in your tummy" kind of love. It doesn't refer to brotherly love or having a kinship with another person. Agape love... real love... is what I like to call a "God Thing".

Someone once said that true, genuine love is giving of ourselves to meet the needs of others without expecting anything in return. It is fairly easy to give if, in return, we expect to gain. In the same way, it is easy to love if, in return, we expect to BE loved. However, that is not always the case. I am the first to tell you that unrequited love bites the big one! I am also the first to tell you that this true love I am speaking of expects nothing in return. This love that I am talking about starts in the heart of Christ and flows to the hearts of others. This love that I am talking about is not just a feeling... it's an action... it's a choice... it's a way of living. This love is selfless, humble, and undeserving.

So... all this makes sense, right? Here comes the hard part.... Scripture not only tells us that this kind of love was found in Christ, but it tells us this kind of love ought to be the defining characteristic in us, as well. (John 13:34-35)

That is where I come up a bit short. I can say with a fair amount of confidence that I am a loving person. I've been given the gift of compassion, at least in some capacity, and truly enjoy spreading that love and compassion to those who may need it. However... I also like to hear that I'm doing a darn good job passing out that compassion and have been known to get annoyed if no one notices. I'll be the first to admit I have complimented someone only to receive a compliment in return. I've flirted with someone only so they will flirt back. None of these self-centered acts are acts of humility. None of these are acts of Love.

Beneath all this rambling... my point is that in this season of Love we should all seek to give away as much real, genuine love as possible and the only way to give that love away is to receive it from Christ Himself. Leave the candied hearts and scented candles on the shelves at Hallmark, and look upward, my friends. Be eager to receive the selfless abundant love that is being given to you and then turn elsewhere and selflessly give it away.

That is Valentine's Day.

"amazing love..."
Tempa