The Wonder of You

To: God

An hour ago I was standing in between the rocks and pines on a mountaintop, overlooking the wideness of the bay. Something magical happened to me there...I was swept off my feet by the wonder of You. It's not that it never happened before; but I'm so enthralled that it happened again. You've captured my heart, my eyes, my emotions, my mind. I'm filled with wonder, because You are Wonderful. I really think You are! I wanted to tell You that I'm slowing down, to enjoy the wonder of You.

Photo: thanks to Pixabay

You keep surprising me; like a boyfriend pulling roses from behind a tree, chocolates from beneath the table, bending down on one knee. You’ve been wooing me, and my eyes are open. You’ve been sending me packages, and - I’m chiding myself for the sad times I forget to even wonder where they came from, forget to look for the sender’s address and treasure the exotic stamp. But You've got my attention now.

Now...now I’m slowing, I’m pausing. I’m stopping to wonder. I’m letting my heart go. I’m releasing my soul to be curious and childlike, to fill with awe. Releasing my soul to enthrall...in You.

Oh, that I may never leave Your gifts out in the rain to go limp and pass away silently from my neglect.

I’m stopping to treasure You. 

I’m slowing and I just want to say “Thank You”. 

And tonight this wonder that fills my soul, it's all about You. You fascinate me. For so many reasons, but how can I keep from mentioning how utterly enchanting of Your idea to create the nose? From Your imagination, I can smell...

The scent of pine trees, pulsing in the air, like someone wanted to have a party and decked out the venue with extravagant perfume - I can't help but gasp. That was You...

The scent of the ocean, caught up and delivered to the threshold of my senses, exploding in free delight on the nerves of my nose. Salty, wild and fishy, yet delightful all the same. My lungs fill with this luxurious air, deeply. And that breath, too, was from You.

And the scent of sweat and cologne, nearness and intimacy; I can't get over how You dreamed up the personality of a man like Jonathan who fits me so perfectly. The man I get to love and get to live my days with. This too is a gift from You - one that I dreamed of and imagined and made guesses about - and now every day I unwrap the gift a little bit more.

If my olfactory nerves were all I had for enjoying Your gifts, I would be rich indeed. But it doesn't stop here! Not only can I can smell the the popping corn, fragrant on the fire; I can hear it! Oh, the musical sound of kernels in a kettle over fire, magically blithesome. I chuckle at the very idea of it! Shiny, tiny, and impossibly hard; suddenly transforming into delicious puffs of flavor. Who but You would’ve ever thought of this delight! I can't get over these subtle, enthralling glimpses into Who You Are. The more I get to know You, the more I want to get to know You more. You are fascinating in Your power, the quiet wisdom of Your mind, the thunder of Your majesty. You are fascinating in Your love.

Photo: Thanks To Pixabay

Your imagination is so entrancingly above my own, and although I've known You for years I want You to know that once again I am falling...in love. 

You cupped my face in Your hands tonight, and You enticed my eyes upwards, away from the dirt. I followed Your wooing just in time, and the jaw of my heart hung low as I saw You toss a star across the blackness. Just for me? I saw it, God, I caught Your gift.

I wonder, will You tell me someday? How did You make the stars? Different colors; different places in the universe. And the moon! She's not a star; Your creativity made a nightlight so we could sleep in the dark, yet feel cozy and safe in the glow. The moon: never boring, yet steady and predictable; the perfect balance of wild and safe. That’s just like You! I see You in the moon.

Speaking of you, You brought me here, and I looked around, and there were gifts everywhere. I’ve come back to thank You. 

No, You are not the gifts; I love You for oh, so much more than what You give to me. But tonight You used Your gifts to woo my heart. Sometimes You woo me by Your presence in my pain. Sometimes You woo me with an umbrella in the rain. Other times we get wet together. And today, You opened my eyes and there were gifts everywhere.

Thank You for who You are. Thank You for showing me when You tossed that star. Thank You for the gift of the wild scented air. For kettles of popcorn and wind in my hair. The way light floats on the sea, the way You take time...for me.

I’m treasuring your gifts. Clasping them to my heart. Receiving with awe. 

I wonder...and I never want to stop wondering...over You. 

I Bought a Book with a Hiccup

The tiny two-and-a-half-burner stove is spitting and puffing as I attempt to cajole it into boiling a pot of eggs for breakfast. Sunshine is breezing in through the balcony door, openly declaring that it's past our normal breakfast time. I don't mind, because it's Saturday.

On the narrow street outside, a truck passes slowly by with a large horn positioned strategically on the front, declaring some sort of advertisement in Greek rather loudly.

I have sat down to write to you because my husband thought I should definitely, most assuredly, tell you about the time that I became part of a most hilarious phenomenon and managed to buy a book with a hiccup.

I can just about see your eyebrow curling to the North like a curious boy running up a hill. A hiccup?! Seriously now. Who ever heard of such a thing.

Nope, I’d never heard of it either. Not until I met Jonathan.

Which leads me to the question: What Do You Do With a Hiccup?

Photo from Pixabay.com

When my husband gets hiccups, normally his case never advances to the plural, jerking to a stop at hiccup. Thus, it was with intense consternation that he discovered his darling sweetie getting swept away by a hiccup stampede, run over and barely able to calmly catch her breath. “Did you ever try sucking in your breath after the first hiccup, and holding it in place for one minute?” He wondered. So I tried it. Alas, no success. For some unfortunate reason, the methods which he found to be quite foolproof left me hiccuping helplessly as ever. So, one day several years into our marriage, he decided in spite of my doubts to try one last method for dispelling hiccups which he had found to be quite inevitably prone to success.

Based on the theory that if you want to hiccup you can’t, it goes as follows: “If you do another hiccup in the next ten minutes, I will give you ten dollars!” - or whatever lure you know will be enticing to the hiccuper.

The first time he tried it on me several months ago, I didn’t even try to hiccup. I figured this is a splendid way to get myself a little treat! I will pretend the splendid offer didn’t exist, wait a minute or two, and hiccup my way into success. I waited, and waited; but no hiccup would venture to even get close. I meditated on whether or not I should do a fake one and see what Hubby would do, but when ten minutes rolled around, I had not a hiccup to declare.

In the last several months, the Hiccup Dare has been proved to work right charmingly.

Until this week. I don’t know if it has to do with the breezy Greek air, or the fact that my husband offered to buy me an eBook that I had lost my initial craze of interest in. I was in the throes of involuntary throat spasms accompanied by the most ungracious noises when Jonathan offered the aforementioned prize. Imagine our mutual surprise when HICCUP! And the promised book was mine.

After my man calmed down his fit of laughter he set about to analyze the situation and publish a new and improved theory on The Best Way to Stop Hiccups.

In case you're wondering, we found it incredibly unfortunate that Amazon hasn’t yet legalized hiccups as a viable currency, so my poor hubby had to dip into his pocket for the book.

The intended moral of this short tale is easy. First, when making theories about hiccups, always leave a line at the end for an addendum or two. Secondly, make theories about hiccups. It’s good for your marriage. It works like a medicine (unless you refuse to end failed attempts with a tickling match).

Have a good week everyone, and may life’s hiccups be few and far between.