No greater LOVE...

I see two blue roses sitting on the table…the third is in Limon…No greater LOVE…that verse seems to be everywhere over the internet…I think of Jay…of laying down his life…of those words on his stone…John 15:13.  And I go there and read under Love and Joy Perfected…

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that  your joy may be full.   This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.   GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS, THAN TO LAY DOWN ONE’S LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.  You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.   No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another. 

 John 15:9-17

Wow there is a lot there and my mind thinks of blogging…I think of the message here…of how we get caught up in the symbol...BUT do we remember…I mean really remember?    Those that lay down their life…it was not for the glory when it comes down to it…but for something bigger…something deeper…something that they might not even completely understand…but that they were put in this time and place for a purpose…to take a stand against that which is evil…against hate…yet how do we remember them…do we come from the same place?   Could we stand to stand in that place?    I ponder at times…the why’s…the what if’s…yet these are not mine to know.   Yet I feel that it is mine to remember…to give thanks for those who have given the “ultimate sacrifice” they say…yet if those who have gone on…believe in the one who the verse was originally written…of Jesus…who laid down His life for each of us so that this world is not our end…and that this portion ends with a commandment that if we TRULY followed…this in which we are told to abide in…John’s writings…John the disciple from the inner circle…

These things I command you, that you love one another.

Can you even imagine?   As I made the loop in visiting  part of my “inner circle’s” on Friday…I stopped at my folks graveside…Jim and Peg…putting flowers at their stone…Mom and Dad…Granny and Hoopee...and there is their headstone amidst a dry barren area…and yet I tell my brother…they lived many years without a lawn…and where they are now…I think there is green grass…no I haven’t been to Heaven…but I would like to think there is green grass there…as it is truly a blessing for sure…I include butterflies in their flowers...

and as I pull down by my Grandma Bessie’s…and green grass has returned to this area in the cemetery...while once a beautiful spot...the grass had died...but has now returned...and I smile...

  And my radio is playing Finally Home by MercyMe…When I finally make it Home…and I think of this song…and I think of Home…our eternal Home…and how many I love…already there…

And while on this journey…I stop and see…the folks still here…Frank and Joyce...thankful that they are still with us…to Love...

and then I continue on to my favorite son-in-law’s…

and it is here that I read again…No greater Love…

and I had found some beautiful blue roses…and I leave one there and think how those we love much like those roses…only here for a while…but what is their story while they are here…and this rose…was given the honor of remembering one of the heroes of my story…one in my “inner circle”…

Jay William Sheridan…Jay Bird…who lay down his life for another…would he have said that is what he wanted to do…probably not…but as each of us are called to do daily…we are put in this place at this time…for a purpose that we might not understand…or choose…but if given a job…to do that job…”in the line of duty” they say…what is in our line of duty and it comes down simply to one thing…Love one another…yet in place of that Love…we (and I use “we” collectively as I know I point more fingers back at myself that I point at another)…we choose to pick apart each other…we choose hate over love…and I don’t seem to see a loophole of love one another IF…BUT I do read the next words that follow and the section in John 15 of hate…says “They hated Me without a cause.”    Do we really have a cause in our hate…yet I believe we have a purpose and a cause in our LOVE…

And I bring two more blue roses with me…for my girls…these are part of the memorial for me…those who are left behind in the “No greater love’s”…and I am reminded that we are all left behind in one way or another…yet with the GREATER LOVE of JESUS…the Capital “L” kind of LOVE…we will see them again…and later on in John he says…that our sorrow will be turned to Joy…and so though we may remember and we may feel sorrow…may we also feel JOY…

And so now I need to go before a little Firecracker wakes up…because yes…she oozes Joy!!!   She a reminder of her daddy for sure…and I got  a few pics of her and “Oppy” and I up at the ranch and I smile as she tries to touch her nose with her tongue imitating the calves…and then just feeling the joy of the ride…and yes she is part of the tribute to her daddy...a part of his legacy of love…and in LOVE may bring JOY to the ride…

This is the day that the LORD has made...Let us rejoice and be glad in it...

lyp

On the other side...

 This is a first...a blog from my phone...so much on my heart...and I think of this past Wednesday....and thinking not sure a fan of Wednesday's in March!!!

I was on the road again on Wednesday...and stopped for a pitstop in Bennett...as I was getting ready to leave when a pickup pulled up and out climbed a guy who I took a double take as he made me think of Jay...and out of the other side a girl maybe a little older than the Firecracker...but close enough that I paused and wondered what kind of trouble those two might have got into...one I guess I will never know.

And I headed on down the road to pull into Limon, Colorado...those who know me...This town holds some very special people...but also a place where we said goodbye to my favorite son-in-law...and though his EOW was 3/9/11...it was a Wednesday...and traveling into town...I noticed the street was lined with a blue line flag...and I steal post and pic shared by the town...

The Limon Police Department would like to give a shout out to the Town Administration and Rich and Donna Metcalf at Pronghorn Country ACE for purchasing and Town Employees for displaying these Thin Blue Line flags! They are being flown on E Avenue and Main Street in honor of Officer Jay Sheridan's 7th Anniversary LODD.

Such a touching tribute and I also know that a fundraiser is in place with efforts to raise money for body armor for the Lincoln County Sheriff's office...

And I hate the fact that this had to be a thing!  But it is...

After a stop at the cemetery...I am back on the road...and go to the office...make a trade-off of hats and go in to do a little bit of work...I find out that a lifelong friend... Doris Ball...has passed...not completely surprised...but did not think she would go so quickly...damn that cancer...I had stopped to see her Friday in the hospital...the 7 year anniversary of her husband...on the "other side"...  Curtis leaving us on a Wednesday as well...a week before Jay left us...and this morning while messaging with Jay's mom this song comes on by Colton Dixon...I had not heard it...but those who know me know often when I travel I will say see you on the other side...one of those phrases that takes on different meanings...

The other side...and at my kitchen table this morning had the visual of a red Rover game...and so many I love being called right over...only to be taken in loving arms...the loving arms of Jesus...of those gone on before...and I hear a story behind the song and it is a beautiful addition to...

And I think of some shared of choosing joy...and I think of wanting to take a find a frame for a picture I have that I want to take when I go back to Limon and join others as we stop and reflect on the life of Jay Sheridan.... pictures...  I also wanted to see the Ball girls...but I head to find a frame at the Light House in LaJunta and walk in and there are those Ball girls...and after they leave I try to find a frame...after not seeing one I am told there are some in the back...we go back and the owner hands me one that she pulls off the shelf almost without thought or even being sure what it is...I had not told her what I wanted or what it for...but the frame handed me says No greater Love than to lay down your life for a friend...and tears and laughter come thinking what a God we have...

and here in the wee hours I seem to be able to ramble even on my phone...and the days begin to blur and getting later and I think about pictures...which do I pick...or will my eyes close first...and I think of Jaybird...of my friend Doris...and think of my friend...Doris' daughter talking of the circle being unbroken...and I listen to this song...

and I think of a picture Heather had shared...one I took of a Firecracker looking at her Daddy's stone and look at her and her daddy dancing and the words...three things...and she holding up three fingers...right there by the...three things will last forever faith, hope and love abide...but the greatest of these is LOVE...

There may be some who think that I speak too much on this...actually some think I speak too much period...of why do you want to remember so much... maybe because they loved so much and it is a part of me a story teller...to share this legacy of Love...and a verse that has become one of my life verses...from 2 John 1:6 says:

Love means living the way God commanded us to live...As you have heard from the beginning, His command is this:

LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE! 

And I think of this life that we live and want others to know that this life matters...this life made a difference...my daughter has a wreath that hangs on her door...this season before spring...

And it is another family this life that we are a part of...and on her mantel...I caught some pics in the light...

And so with the light of day I finish up and think of the days ahead...I think of faith... hope...and love...of a night in Limon...a farewell tomorrow to my friend...of a corn hole tournament Sunday honoring another police officer who lost his life also in the line of duty...and I not playing...but hopefully holding one little precious Herrera baby...

And so this day filled with much emotion...and this not to seek attention but to say I love you Jaybird...and one day when Jesus calls my name...I will be ready to come over to the other side...but today...I just want to think about one on the "Other Side" who lived a life of love...Yes 4 ever in our hearts...

Lys