No Greater Love

Today is the day we recognize this one man.   A great leader.  A Christ follower. A Son. A Brother.   
"I still believe that love is the most durable power in the world. Over the centuries men have sought to discover the highest good. This has been the chief quest of ethical philosophy. This has been one of the big questions of Greek philosophy. The Epicureans and the Stoics sought to answer it; Plato and Aristotle sought to answer it. What is the summum bonum of life? I think I have discovered the highest good. It is love. This principle stands at the center of the cosmos. As John says, “God is love.” He who loves is a participant in the being of God. He who hates does not know God."

A Father.  A Husband. A Preacher. A Servant to all of Humanity.

"Always be sure that you struggle with Christian methods and Christian weapons. Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos."

A Poet. A Philosopher.  A Teacher. A Student. 
A man whose only mission was to promote LOVE.
“There is no greater love than this: that a person would lay down his life for the sake of his friends.” John 15:13
Because of Hate and Fear  He never got to see his grandchildren. He didn't get to witness the first Black President. He never even saw his 40's. 
Despite his short time here, he was A world changer. His words carry weight because he backed them with the actions that eventually killed him. His voice is still heard today. And hopefully will be heard for many more years to come. 
I'm beyond thankful that I live in a country that recognizes men just like Martin Luther King jr. It is my hope and prayer on this day that we won't silence the voice of love.  That all of us will work together to be love promoters and in doing so become world changers in our own right. 

A Tribute to My Grandma and My Mom

"A falling tree makes more noise...

Than a forest that's growing."

I remember as a young, brown eyed girl who was innocent to the ways of the world my grandma used to sing a few songs that I just thought were simple silly songs. 

There were two of them that she sang quite frequently;

 Row Row Row your Boat and Accentuate The Positive.

To look at the lyrics of either of these songs you might think they are but simple childlike songs, but as I've gotten older I have come to realize that the theme in both of them; to live merrily, gently, and stay on the positive side of life, are words to live by.

"Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream." 

and

"You've got to accentuate the positive 

eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative 

But 

Don't mess with Mister in between."

As every year passes and my kids are growing like weeds, with a graduate of High School and one more headed into High School, their friends getting married, and having babies these lyrics are beginning to become my life's simple song.

Because life truly is ...
But a dream.
But a breath.
But a moment.

I think that is all one can do in this life is row your boat gently and merrily down this stream called life,  call it a good day, and return to dust.

Gently because there are enough storms in this life to rock that boat so on the daily to remain in gentleness and kindness and merrily live this life is truly not an easy task.

The second song is without a doubt in my DNA.

My mom and my grandmother have lived this song out and maybe it was the song in their hearts that forever changed them to be positive people.

Living on the positive side of life and not giving energy to negative things is also not an easy task.

Latching onto the affirmative to me would be the key to life.

The affirmative to me means truth.

Latch onto what is TRUE in this life and for me The Way, The TRUTH, and where life can be found is only in Jesus. 

These songs although they might be simple melodies they are far from simple to live out.

I believe they are the reason you arrive at 46 years of marriage like my parents picture above. 

Either one of my parents at any given moment could have got hung up on negative things that they saw in each other. They could have looked at their 5 kids and torn them apart for all their inadequacies as well, but instead they chose the positive side of life. 

They gave each other space.

They chose grace, and mercy and they still do.

These words are a way of life that I'm determined to emulate.

  I'm beyond grateful for these simple songs now that I'm older and I've seen many ways to live this life.
You can spend your time, your energy, your resources on so many different things in this life, but things don't last, people do.
If your not spending time on what is eternal it all turns back into dust in the end.


Simple but True.

Life  is But A Dream.
Live merry.
Live Gently.
Live Positive.
 And pay attention to that growing forest rather than the one noisy negative tree falling.

Nothing But Love

Noël

20 years

Last month on June 3rd we turned 20 years old.

20 years is literally a life time.

We looked SO very different 20 years ago. 

I was only 20 years old when we got married, and My Giant was 22.

Now in our 40s it seems a lifetime ago and at the same time like only yesterday.

We spent our anniversary going up the coast of Hwy 101 in our VW bus.

This was a bucket list dream come true for us, and around every corner we were reminded that our story is HIS story and that from start to finish HE (the lover of our souls) has been binding us together in this 3 stranded cord of beauty.

I remember the first time I saw him. I will never forget that moment as long as I live. It really was love or lust at first sight for this girl. I'm gonna go with lust because I had no idea what love was at 15 years old. Yea, purty sure it was lust but not the kind that is tainted by the world. The innocent school girl crush kinda lust. I haven't stopped lusting over this beautiful man who can paint a picture that should be hung in an art museum as well as build a beautiful cabin in the woods with a porch to sit and watch the world go by. He is just a man, but in a world when so many men have been weighed, measured, and found wanting ...  He is a MIGTHY GOOD MAN! For those of  you who want to read  more on our beginnings, the whole long lust/love story that really is a good one if I don't say so myself, you can go here : Hashtag MoNoSco But for today I want to talk a bit about what 20 years have looked like and I'm not going to leave out the nitty gritty stuff that we know all marriages are made of. Before I let you in to this most treasured corner of my heart and life beloved reader, know this; There are moments that I will never share with you because they are sacred.  In every life there should be moments that are kept under what the Jewish Rabbi would call the Chuppah !! This was and is a symbol that goes way back that signifies a set apartness from the rest of the maddening world. The couple stands under the Chuppah to declare to the rest of the world that this union is set apart and only they will know what goes on under the covering of the Chuppah. I love this tradition and have adopted it in my own marriage even though I'm not Jewish I recognize the value in this beloved act. There are moments of this relationship that I will never share with my best friends, mom, sisters, or anyone else who is trying to weasel there way into this most sacred spot. That being said, I will share with you that these past 20 years have not all been filled with wine and roses. 

There have been moments of total sadness, disappointment, frustration, anger, irritation and full on close to hate.  I can't say that I've ever hated Moses, but I have come close to feeling that scary disconnect with him and it's in these moments we have looked for help. It is also in those moments that I know the grace of God was/is at hand because neither one of us is opposed to being open about the fact that we have needed help.
We started our marriage with pre-marriage counseling and in the 20 plus years we've been together we have gone to counseling a couple of times, and I'm sure that we probably will go again. I'm beyond grateful that we both have been willing to be honest about that. I think it's SO important to realize in a relationship when you need help and don't be ashamed to get it.  Honestly, I don't know a single solitary couple who hasn't needed some kind of outside help to keep their marriage on a healthy path.
Why we don't recognize and celebrate the counseling as much as we celebrate the anniversaries and Valentine's Days I will never know, because to me that's when the real intimacy takes place.    So there is some of our nitty gritty. Now on to the mushy gushy. This is the part that everyone loves to read about, myself included. This is the part where I tell you when we had our first child, Emma I fell more in love with My Giant who was weepy over the sight of his brand new baby girl. This is the part where I tell you that not only do I love this man because he has fathered 4 children, but he has truly been an inspiration to me in many ways with how he takes the time to sit and have deep talks with our 4 kids.
This is the part where I tell you that sometimes when he gets dressed in the morning and he comes out looking all HOT and stuff, my little heart still goes pitter-patter! I love that he makes me breakfast on a regular basis. He makes me laugh so hard that I almost pee my pants on a daily basis.  Those are just some of the good things that I choose to stay focused on when we hit those rough patches. I know you've heard this and if you haven't then I'm happy to be the first place you read it, but 
LOVE REALLY IS A CHOICE I don't disagree with my mom often, if ever, but this is one of those times that after all these years I can honestly say that when she has said for years "You can't tell the heart who to love" I would have to disagree.
YOU absolutely can tell the heart who to love and you have to tell it again and again and again! Moses was my high school girls crush 24 years ago and he became my life's choice 21 years ago  and I'm choosing him again.

I'm telling this heart who to love and continue to love well.

It may have been lust all those years ago but it has grown into this beautiful thing. This amazing, wonderful, astounding thing called  LOVE.
And after all these years I'm beyond grateful that he is still my favorite, and that our love story is still ongoing, and I'm still a lusty hot mess over here for that man !!

Woven

"I want you WOVEN into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else."  Colossians 2:2-3 

I read this, a few days back and I immediately thought of the new women's group that I get the privilege of being a part of once a month at my home church Hillside Foursquare. The reason I thought of them is because we have named our group Woven with the idea that our purpose should be to weave our hearts together with acts of love. We feel that all of God's women here in Reno, NV and across the world are stronger, better, more courageous when we stand together as a unified force.    I'm sure it makes a lot more sense now why this scripture that was on my desk calendar would shout out to me then. But, as I took a closer look I realized that God has been weaving a reoccurring theme throughout my days and that is unity. 
I have been studying the book of John with the SheReadsTruth ladies and a while back we read in John 5:19 that even Jesus was apart of the infinity circle. In this portion of scripture he talks about how he did nothing on his own but only moved always with the Father.  It got me thinking about how every soul that ever was or ever will be desires closeness, oneness, unity with someone.  When we seek out this unity our lives are richer, deeper, fuller and we are more in tune with our true selves. 
Every soul longs to know and be known by at least one.
God made us to long for this. He made us to long for Him. 
If even Jesus needed this connection with the Father how much more do we need it as well. When we fill our lives with other things it may temporarily fill that hole but it doesn't fulfill us for very long. I believe this to be the reason that social media's have become so prevalent in our day and age because they are a way of staying connected.   The human soul is constantly seeking connection. 
We look with eyes of wanting to see at least one face in the crowd who understands and fully gets us. That's what is so nice and comforting about old friends, they know you. The you that TP'd a house at age 13 or the you that got bit by a dog when you were only 14 or the you that married at 20 years of age, or lost your first baby to a miscarriage.  They know you. But only God knows the real you. He's known you since you were in your mother's womb. Doesn't that just trip some of you out right now? That's a lot of knowing. The truly awe-some thing about the fact that God knows us and sees us is that as we get to know Him he reminds us over and over and over again that He only ever wants to love us. Often times we think how could God loves this? Because we see through eyes of darkness we think that's all He sees. But oh beloved reader, HE sees through eyes of light.  He can only see the good in you. What an amazing God we have. Truly He adores you. As we begin to know, really know this love of Christ we walk a little taller.  Our head is not hung in shame for every mistake we have made.
This is the great mystery... the LOVE of Christ!

In seeking a greater level of peace this year I have realized more than ever how crucial my connection, my umbilical cord, if you will, to Jesus is a vital and necessary part of that peace. Anytime I try and cut that cord the life just drains right out of my soul and I'm left tired, weary, and discouraged.  Staying constantly at his feet in this busy, chaotic world is not easy. I have found over the years that if I surround myself with scripture everywhere I look there is an opportunity for God to speak to me in my decor.  And He does. And almost on a weekly basis I'm wooed back to his feet by a simple word or reminder that, that is where my soul will be fed and my heart will stay in full, surrendered peace. But even more than being surrounded by God's word I can honestly say that it is the LOVE of Christ that draws me, beckons me to come, because without the daily dose of Jesus I am not quite the same. I function, but at a level that isn't my best self.  My true inner soul needs Jesus the living water that causes me never to thirst again.  His voice is still and small but if you listen, really listen He will call you too. If you are the girl who's waiting by the phone and it never rings, or more likely these days waiting on your IG pic to be liked by a certain someone, please know that you have already been called, you are already liked, and you are beyond measure loved by the Lover of your Soul. Focus on Christ and let Him weave you into this tapestry of LOVE!

Love Yourself

Good Morning Beloved Reader.

Let's start this blog off on the right foot, or I guess if you prefer the left foot that's fine too, but let's start by talking about a quote shall we?

 “If you put a small value on yourself, rest as- 

sured that the world will not raise your price.” 

I absolutely love the above quote.  It makes me think of this scripture;
"Love your neighbor as you LOVE yourself"
We will come back to that later, because It also makes me think about those two beauties in the above picture.
Why? You ask.
Well,  I have noticed something, I'm not sure when it happened but my girls have turned into young women, and not just ANY young women. They are young women who walk around with a healthy dose of value, self worth, confidence, and wisdom.
It seemed like only yesterday that they were playing with dolls and giving each other rides around the house in the laundry baskets.  And now they look like this;

The one on the left is only 14 people.  FOURTEEN!! The one on the right ... well let's not mention how old she's going to be in a few months!
Back to the one on the left...
I'm pretty sure I'm not going to let her wear that red lipstick anymore. (Insert emoticon with a straight face and eyes wide open)  Ahem...  I'm also pretty sure I want her new favorite accessory of choice to be a brown paper bag with only the eye sockets cut out!! It's a good thing her dad is a GIANT named Moses or I'd be really worried.   But, you know I'm really not that worried because back to that quote up there this girl, my girl Chloe, has a high value for herself that I'm fairly certain will keep her from most things that most moms would worry about with a 14 year old daughter that looks like she's  TWENTY TWO!!
Yes, I'm raising two beautiful girls that not only value themselves but they truly are wise beyond their years. I know with complete certainty that this value and wisdom comes from their personal relationships with Jesus so I'm not about to take credit for it.
  But I also know that this world works night and day to try and de-value them. The world and it's message to these young women is working over time to tell them they aren't skinny enough, pretty enough, athletic enough, rich enough, witty enough, smart enough,  enough. enough.  enough.
I tire so quickly of that message.  In fact every new day I need a new message.  I need to hear that I'm loved, valued, appreciated, honored, treasured and so on and so forth.  I know that my girls need to hear this as well. And I would bet my 1966 vw buggy named Lucy Blue that it's a message YOU need to hear as well!
This message raises the price of my value by immeasurable numbers.  This message is one I can find readily available to me at any given moment.  It's also where I have read over a thousand times' "Love your neighbor as YOU LOVE YOURSELF"
A few weeks back my friend who also happens to be a Pastor and a really great teacher, he spoke about loving yourself. It struck a chord with me because I think that for me it's easier to love my neighbor than it is to love myself. I don't know about you all but sometimes I need a healthy dose of self love. Not to become conceited and narcissistic but just to bring back into line my true worth. I really do think that ONLY after I receive that self love message am I able to truly go out and love my neighbor.
Did you know that you beloved reader were purchased with a price?

Raise your price today.

Love yourself.

Listen to the message that says this;

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Everyday Jesus sits waiting for us to listen to HIS message for us. 

He tries to speak to us in the trees of bright yellow, and the birds taking flight.

He tries to tell us that he made all of the beautiful things on this earth for us to enjoy and be filled with joy. 

I wonder, are we listening?

MoNoSco turns 19 years old

Today I get to celebrate a second birthday. Well, technically the world calls this day my anniversary, but to me it feels like a second birthday. It's MoNoSco's birthday today and I am 19 years old with this guy. We got married June 3, 1995.

I remember when I was a 19 year old girl who got engaged to a 21 year old young man. I told a young, 21 year old Moses, "Won't it be SO cool when we have been together longer than we were alive apart from each other?" And now this year marks that date for me.  We have been together 20 years. Married for 19 years. Known of each other for 22 years. That's A lotta years. If you are interested in those years, the beginning years of our LOVE STORY you can read about them here; MoNoSco Love Story Together our names make up Mo No Sco. Moses+Noël+Scofield= MoNoSco
That's what he's etching on the wall at the old Genoa Bar. MoNoSco... It's a pretty great name if you ask me. 

It seems only right that our name should be etched in stone at the place we got married 19 years ago.

We didn't get married at that bar, but we were in Genoa NV 19 years ago at this time.

19 years ago on this day I was only 20 years old. 

Now, I sit here as an almost 40 year old woman and I can remember that day like it was yesterday.

I wasn't nervous.

I didn't have cold feet.

I was 100% sure that my commitment, promise, and covenant to Moses was one life choice I would NEVER regret. 

And I can honestly say, that after all these years I am beyond thankful for this beautiful thing called marriage.

We have had SO much fun together traveling along life's highways and byways, and low-ways.

There is still no one else I'd rather spend my day with and as I sit here and think about us and all the years that have gone by it fills my heart to overflowing that I have been lucky in LOVE.

I have been so very fortunate to grow up beside this man named Moses. 

Being married to him has taught me more than I could ever possibly imagine it would have.

And I have yet, to find a way to fully express how much I love him.

Good thing I have the rest of my life to figure out a way to do just that, 

but for now,

I think I still like the way Billy Holiday sang it on our wedding day 

Oh Happy Happy Day MoNoSco!!

Maybe that's Better

I ask you,  Is there anything better than coming home after a day at the beach, and taking a shower, and then lathering up in coconut lotion?

Maybe seeing cousins play all day at the beach, and then when they finally do take a breather hearing them talk about the Trinity and all things Spiritual.
Maybe that's better.

Maybe hearing the youngest cousin say the oldest cousins name for the first time, and feeling like time is standing still for just a moment.
Maybe that's better.

Maybe sharing a treasured memory with your children and family that brings you back to another treasured memory of where it ALL began.
Maybe that's better.

Maybe remembering a moment in time when you were young, and so very much in love, reminds you that although you are no longer young you are still so very much IN LOVE.
Maybe that's better.

Maybe this and so much more makes you feel grateful beyond compare to be where you are, with who you are with, doing what you are doing. 
And this is a far better joy than any bottle of coconut lotion could ever produce. Although I gotta say, I'm feeling sun kissed and happy right about now ;) AND I really do hope you are too!

18 years

18 years.

18 years of love notes.

18 years of laughter.

18 years of morning coffee talks.

18 years of wonder.

18 years of memories.

18 years of  live music.

18 years of SNL nights. 

18 years of sleeping in on the weekend.

18 years of baseball games.

18 years of groceries.

18 years of cooking together.

18 years of laundry.

18 years of dreaming.

18 years of surprises.

18 years of  Christmas morning.

18 years of tenacity. 

18 years of long, deep, questioning conversations.

18 years of prayers.

18 years of forgiveness.

18 years of silly faces. 

18 years of hugs.

18 years of houses.

18 years of  VW adventures.

18 years of parties.

18 years of kisses.

18 years of sun.

18 years of rain.

18 years of loving you like nobody's loved you.

U2 song- Whoa The Sweetest Things

It's not our anniversary, but it is the month of LOVE.
And so I feel compelled to tell you this LOVE story.
It's the story of when a blue eyed boy met a brown eyed girl.
Or the story of how a brown eyed girl stalked a blue eyed boy.
Either way, it's my LOVE story.
I wish that each and everyone of you had a blog where I could read your LOVE stories, because to me LOVE stories truly are "The Sweetest Things"
This Love story well it happened kinda something like this.

Well, about over 20 years ago.

I don't regret going to my friend Jen's youth group that night because not only was it a night that I would meet some treasured people that would forever be in my life, but it was the first time I laid eyes on him. (Enter the "At Last My LOVE has come along" song here)

Jen's Youth pastors at the time were a couple named Louie and Joni Locke.They were newlyweds. They were nice, but they were quickly forgotten once Moses walked through the front door.

(Can't believe I am actually going to use this reference, and I am sure my teenage daughter will never forgive me for ruining her favorite love story, but here goes nothing)

Enter Twilight scene where Bella first lays eyes on Edward as he walks through the door to the cafeteria at school. To those of you who haven't watched Twilight, I'm sorry. To those of you who have it really was pretty much something like that, only Moses wasn't a vampire and I am not named Bella. I quickly asked my friend Jen who that tall guy with Heather G was? She filled me in as best she could and then the stalking began.

I was 15 years old. He was 17. I was going to into the 10th grade he would be a Senior. CRAP I AM OLD!!

I thought he was already in college because he looked so much older, imagine my surprise when I found out I would be going to school with him the next year.
A few more details you should know about this story is that although he wasn't a murderous vampire, he wasn't a Christ follower at the time. I was trying to follow Christ's teaching a little closer than I had in my non-following Christ years, and so this posed a problem. Our lives were on different roads. He was listening to Nine Inch Nails, I was listening to Amy Grant. LOL. That is just a pretty damn funny sentence right there. And also a pretty good way of putting our past into a nut shell(Help, I'm in a nut shell!)

This is where my prophetic youth pastor enters the story. I had told no one, and I do mean no one about this high school girl crush. Although, those that were close to me I am sure had an idea or two. But, I certainly didn't tell anyone near or remotely close to my youth pastor. So there is no way he could have known what he knew. And basically, without leaving all you non-church goers in the dust here he did what the world would call a psychic reading on my ass, and it scared the crap out of me!!

So, due to my recent "Fear of THE LORD" I let all those high school girly crush dreams go and I forgot about the man-child! I did really forget about him until my Senior year in high school. Long after he had moved out of Carson City. Long after I had that amazing first impression of him. I forgot him. But then one day, there he was almost a year and half later.

This time it was no longer a crush, it was a reality. And by reality I mean he actually talked to me this time.
He came up asked me some questions and then disappeared again.
I forgot him again. (Fear of THE LORD thingy!)
Until a year later.
I looked him up.
He was looking for me.
We talked on the phone.
I invited him to church.
He came.


WE said I DO!

(For those of you new blog followers there is a very lengthy story of us under the tag monosco if you have an hour or two, JK, but really you will need at least a half and hour)

1 week away

Today marks the official "go day" for me.
Are you wondering what I am ready to get up and go do?

Well a few years back I declared February the LOVE month. Does anyone remember this? That first year I sent out a love note every single day to tell the people in my life that I love them. It was a lot of fun to hand write each person a love letter. It was also a big challenge for me because those of you who know me well, know that going to the post office is a big deal for me. I am the chronic late Christmas, Birthday, really anything giver! Seriously, I don't know why the people in my life just don't fire me when it comes to all that, but I guess, well ya'll must really love me. And I am grateful.

Last year I did a more private love month where I challenged myself to love on myself. Sometimes that can be the harder person to show love to, yourself. It is for me at least. Am I alone in this? I had days of guilty pleasures, that normally I would feel extremely guilty for, but last year I made myself be guilt free. Don't ask me how I made the guilt go away, cause I'm not really sure it did go away. So if you ask me about it I might realize that, that was an epic fail in the love department.

Moving on...

So This year I started again privately in my heart to change some things, but today...

Well, I am ready for 7 days of telling, showing, writing, singing, and quoting all things LOVE.

Maybe it will contain me getting up early and making my family a super great breakfast on a school day.
Maybe it will mean, I call a friend I haven't talked to in a while and tell them that they have made my life better.
I might give a stranger standing on the road of life a really big smile and 20 bucks.

Or maybe it will mean I will love myself, (and buy a gym membership...prolly not) so I can love others.

Either way, in my heart for the next week, I am looking for extraordinary ways to express my love.

Today, I woke up NOT feeling all lovey-dovey. To be quite honest I woke feeling really crappy. Sometimes the best thing to do when you feel crappy is to think about others. Sometimes the best thing to do when you wake up feeling like shit is just to go crawl back in bed, but that doesn't jive with this post so stick with me here. Anyways, I decided to go mail off some love packages, and I felt like a little cupid elf. Is there such a thing as a cupid elf? Dunno, but if there is, I was one today.

I hope if you are reading this that you know you are loved, valued, appreciated, treasured, special, and not just to me.

You are loved by the Creator of LOVE.

The Lover of your soul.

Happy LOVE WEEK !