Surprised by love

It's surprising to me that I actually love my sister. I know that sounds funny, but for so long I haven't felt close to my family as though my love for them has been on more of an intellectual level. I knew I loved them, but that wasn't the same as feeling love for them. Last week someone hurt her so deeply she cried in my arms. She never does that and I cried with her. I cried for her that night after the lights were turned off. She stopped crying but I didn't. I think she was surprised that I wept for her, too. It seems to have made a difference in how she acted toward me this weekend, wanting to be around me, wanting to run errands with me. I hate that she was hurt, but I'm thankful to have experienced that with her.

My brother-in-law's father died last week and it brought the idea of dying to the forefront of my mind, especially the aspect of eternity. I am not God and I don't know if he was a believer or not, but if I could say from my own limited understanding whether he was or not, I'd say 'Not'. The funeral was a very interesting experience--both of the pastors spoke of how he wasn't suffering anymore, that he was in a better place and so on. All I could think about was how I doubted it and he was probably twisting and turning in the everlasting torment of hell wishing he was back in this life. It was frustrating to me to hear the pastor speak about that horrid, little man as though he were a good man. When they mentioned the Benny Hinn conference in reference to him, I had to cover my mouth to smother my laughter. Linda asked the pastor later... "Is this a charismatic Presbyterian church?" Poor man, he stammered and turned beet red. None of us sisters have any mercy when it comes to lying from the pulpit or using scripture ineptly. What I realized from the funeral was how much the community loves my brother-in-law and his mother. They all know how the father was but they came for his family. That was a wonderful thing.

One fun thing happened with Linda while I was in north Mississippi... We visited the Tishomingo State Park, which has a swinging, suspension bridge over a little river. I watched Linda walk out onto the bridge and freeze about halfway across because it was moving under her. Her whole body froze, she hunched over, held her arms out from her body as though she were about to lose her balance... and I ... I started running for the bridge! She saw me coming and started squealing, trying to get off of the bridge before I got there, but she was too scared to walk fast. So I blocked her from getting off the bridge and started jumping up and down on the it while she was still on it, making it undulate like a wave. It was the most fun I've had in a long time! She squealed and screamed and cussed and froze like a rabbit. I loved it.