Me & HP

I arrived late to the Harry Potter series in the winter of 1998.   At 19 and a sophomore in college,  I read the first in the series over Christmas break.  Initially, I picked up the book out of curiosity for the whole phenomenon.  And I joined it.

Me & HP entered adulthood together.  I quickly read books 2, 3, and 4 and eagerly awaited reading number 5 the summer of 2003.  I had dressed up as Hermione for a singles Halloween party the previous fall.  Not exactly a flirtatious strategy, but that's me.  I read the fifth book right when it came out,  after attending a friend's wedding without even a buddy to sit with at the ceremony.  Harry faced danger at every turn and only wanted a place to call home.  I faced my first years of teaching middle schoolers and life as a young single girl.   We were in the same boat.

Harry followed me on my first anniversary weekend trip through the mountains of North Carolina.   Every agonizing step he took toward the complicated truth of his history, his parents, his mentors, and his foes, I took with him on my living room couch.  And finally, he faced his destiny.  He moved on to a new normal, and so did I.  

Which brings me to the last book, and the last movie, Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows, Part II.  Obviously, there has been a lot said about this story and its moral (or lack of) value.  So I won't go into that.  It is not a Christian book nor is it written by a professing Christian author.  It draws on mythology and world religions, and thus, also has Christian themes.  If I was still a 9th grader in Ms. McCoy's Lit. I class, I'd probably think, "Harry dies so that others may live.  Just like the Old Man and the Sea.  BAM! Christ figure."

But now, I know something so much truer.   Harry, a fictional character in a fictional world, sacrifices himself to destroy the evil within himself.  But the real God-Man died to destroy the evil outside himself because "in him is no darkness at all." 

I loved every minute of  The Deadly Hallows both because it's a fantastic, epic story, but also because it echoes something real that cannot be perceived with human eyes, but experienced in the spirit.

There really are agents of good and evil battling in the unseen realms of the heavenlies.  And it really will end in conflict.  It will be epic.  And good: our God, He will triumph.

And like Harry,  all will be well.    And that's worth getting excited about.

Seven

I wrote this a few months ago thinking about our anniversary, which is today.  We got to watch the last HP movie this weekend, and he got me a spa day.  Boy did good.

Although it is more than 3 months away, I feel like celebrating our seventh anniversary today. Even though it's not the first or tenth or twenty-fifth, it feels more significant this year. Like we have something to celebrate. We've lived some life. Won and lost. Laughed and cried. And laughed again.

This year has been the hardest for me, and I would say for our marriage. The pressure of providing monetarily, physically, spiritually and emotionally for a family is too much to bear without a loving spouse. I think we both put our heads down and plowed through and are now breathing some fresh air. And all I can say is it is God. His love in my heart. For Him, for Alex, and for our family. He is the Healer.

I know that last paragraph sounds melodramatic. Please take me at my word and believe it is not. There have been no visible demons to slay. No infidelities, deaths, or outward crises-- Praise God. Just life. Its stresses and hardships and disappointments and fears. That's enough in itself to face. So I'm just happy. He's brought me a "mighty long way; that's why I love Him."

We are not special or unique or worth praising. I am sharing this because my heart is full and it needs to overflow in thanks. And so, I've been running montage in my mind. Got the perfect song picked out, too.

If I had a jazz quartet playing at my beck and call today, and a fabulous dress to wear, here's what I'd have them play.

"'Cause in my mind, we can conquer the world/ in love/
You &I/ You & I/ You & I...."
(Listen here to Michael Buble's version)

Love to my husband today. If you ever decide to run away from home, I'm grabbing my purse and coming with you!

4/19/11 for 7/17/11
Melissa

Dance, Girl!

Signs of Life

I read a memoir recently called Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor.  I grabbed it off the shelf because it was a) about a new mom and b) by an English teacher.  The book chronicles a year in the life of this 24-year-old mother who loses her husband to a sporting accident while she is  5 months pregnant with their child.  They are newlyweds about to hit their second year of marriage.  The book is brutually honest and also hilarious.  Natalie has a great 'voice' and I can imagine she's a fantastic teacher.  Each chapter is taken from her journals and begins with a quote from a piece of American Literature that she is teaching her high school students as she grieves.  She invents and converses internally with her Fairy Mother Godmother who tells it to her straight about what mothering really is.  I highly recommend this book.  While the author is probably agnostic and uses a peppering of swear words, she is real, touching, and funny.  The book proves that when you think life is over, it's not.  It may be over as you know it, and that is worth grieving.  But pain can be purposeful if we let it make us stronger by enduring and thriving in the midst of it.  Thank God I've not been where Natalie has.  But as a young mother, I can relate. Worth looking at.

Here are some small signs of life I've caught:

Sarah really like to fill things up.

I think this is great.

A young John and Jackie, you think?

Got the bright idea to dump out all outgrown clothes in an attempt to straighten closets and get ready for our Fall Consignment Sale.  The door to this room will be locked indefinitely.

Hair accessories!  Really!

The gnawed crib.  Proof that the IKEA crib might trump the heirloom crib in terms of wear and tear. 
And heartbreak.

More dumping of stuff.

Staying alive!