Weekly Photo Challenge: (Lost in the Details)

i attended a formula 1 grand prix last year in Austen, Texas, which was basically a dream-i-never-would-have-realistically-had come true as i had been watching the sport since i was in primary school… and in the midst of this international event, sitting flanked by people of all nationalities from all around the world, i had the joy of seeing this South African flag draped casually over someone’s chair near me… great reminder of home in the midst of all the foreign…

this picture, which was taken on my honeymoon with tbV is a beautiful nature scene, but for me it is the wall that stands out – i absolutely LOVE stone walls [made with different types and sizes of stones joined together] – as someone who doesn’t get excited about all that much in the way of architecture and design this is one thing that jumps out for me everywhere i see it and so it was great spotting this gem in the midst of the surrounding beauty and life…

and then talking of lost in the details i found this picture of the stunningly beautiful Val on our wedding day – what i like about it is the range of leaves from blurry and up close to very much in focus and detailed and then trailing off to blurry again… and there in the background the hint of my beautiful bride – the suggestion of a greater story than what is seen in front of you… and a greater story to follow…

 

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Forward’ click here]

my wife beat me

i do have lots of thorts on this topic and so hopefully i will blog some of them down here as well sometime but the beautiful Val has written a really brilliant blog on ‘the honeymoon phase’ of marriage so if you are married (and even if you’re not and are just taking notes, check this out!)

beautiful lady blog on the honeymoon phase

one year marryversary

so yes it’s lateish thurs nite or feels that way cos i am weirdly quite tired and tbV is upstairs working hard cos she has to get thesis changes to her people before she goes away…

which is tomorrow – my lovely wife has a whole weekend of secret plans (at least til sun when we mite be back for the grand prix or at the very least enGAGE church service and world cup final possibly at Ginos with the gang) and we are going away somewhere (i know not where) and i am really looking forward to it

as is she cos i know she desperately wants me to know all the secrets but without giving them to me so she is super amped and i am super amped and it is cool that we celebrate cos it’s been a great year

a crazy, fun, rollercoaster, love-growing, relationship-learning, chatting, laughing, bonding, growing, playing, making-up’ing, series’ing, [  ]ing, gaming, cooking, Jesus’ing, justice’ing year (and some other 18th thing)

and it grows… the love…

as i always say (well i mean, i do say other things cos if this was all i said it would get a little monotonous if this was all i said it would get a little monotonous if this was all i said) marriage to the right person is incredible

hard at times yes, painful at times for sure (you’re living around another person all the time – can’t just pick the good times like with dating) but amazingly empoweringly worth it

which is why it is worth celebrating

and worth trying harder to do better

and ‘trying harder’ really means more submitting (to God and tbV), surrender, sacrifice (the kind you choose more than the kind forced upon you) lifting her above myself, serving, loving

as well as less of a bunch of stuff which hopefully i will continue to work on

here’s to the beautiful Val and the next amazing year, here’s to marriage between one man and one woman which is the best way to live out long-term committed relationships, here’s to a cord of three strands where God (hopefully) has center stage in our lives individually and together and definitely pulls us tight

i love you my babe. i choose you and keep choosing you. thank you in advance for this weekend. mine.