Guest blogger!

I am so happy to introduce my thoughtful, poetic husband Brandon today. I have told him since the beginning that he could write on here, and he has finally decided to take me up on it. Most people probably don't know that he is a lover of poetry and has written quite a few poems to date. Here is his very latest that he wrote during a crazy thunderstorm on our last camping trip:

True Connection

Where is our love in the midst of this concrete and landscaped complex?
Where are our hearts when protected by the walls and gates of our development?
Where is our connection when focused on the manicuring of our own landscapes?
Where is our refreshment when surrounded by the pounding heat and pressures of our lives?

Our hearts yearn for this love, this connection, this refreshment.
We steal away out of these confining walls, these perfectly manicured landscapes, the artificial solidness of the concrete, and the deadening heat of the valley sun.
We come to a place of true solidness
A land of rocks and giant pines that have a way of piercing and jolting our eyes, that have grown accustomed to man-made perfection.
We rise up out of the valley where the heat and pressure of our lives have no jurisdiction.
The peace and beauty of the mountain top forest gives our eyes the chance to see each other again.

But along with the peace and beauty of this natural place comes the power and clash of the storm.
As our walls begin to fall and our connection begins to seem possible the inevitability of the storm is upon us.
The wind picks up, the clouds start to build, and the thunder begins to crash!
The lightning strikes and seems to literally rip through the atmosphere that envelopes us and the walls that protected our hearts.
As the two distinct weather systems collide the rain starts to pour, the hail pounds, and the thunder rattles us to the bone.

At first we fear that we may not be able to withstand this intense collision,
but as we sit under the canopy of our love we know this storm is beautiful and wonderful.
The intensity and the power of this collision is simply a sign of the deep connection and inter-mingling of these two complex weather systems.

Before we know it the wind begins to calm and the sun starts to pierce the clouds.
The two distinct weather systems have seemed to merge.
This merge yields a beautiful warmth that glows deeply into the soul of a marriage.
A piercing sunlight that shines brightly through the clouds of a family and thaws the hearts of all those within.

Thank you Lord for connection.