Yesterday Kristin and Mark took Niah and Johanna out
for a sub...they
paid for us to celebrate Mark's birthday, which
really wasn't neccesary,
although greatly appreciated by the Bystrom kids.
You guys are the Bomb
Diggety. We really had quite the time...

I have this strange feeling of melancholy love in my
heart right now...I
think Steinbeck decribed it rather nicely in this
excerpt.

"He felt his heart smack up against his throat when
he saw Cathy sitting
in the sun, quiet, her baby growing, and a
transparency to her skin that
made him think of the angels on Sunday School cards.
Then a breeze
would move her bright hair, or she would raise her
eyes, and Adam would
swell out in his stomach with a pressure of ecstasy
that was close kin
to grief."

- East Of Eden by Steinbeck

I feel this way sometimes when I look at Isaiah,
seeing him learn new
things, and being impressed by his young developing
mind. When I see
Niah playing his guitar. When I read my mom's
thoughts typed out on a
computer screen...when I think about my dad's
patience with me. I look
at things like this, and take a deep sad sigh of
love within my soul. I
think it's a quiet realization in my spirit of the
grace my kind Jesus
refreshes me with, a constant display of His
faithfulness to me. Why
would it not cause a sweet visit with grief?