(written on the 5th from notes taken… last night?)
For whatever reason, it was a little harder this morning to feel light. I had to fight harder to get and keep the light, feeling heavier for no obvious reason.
I spent some time listening to Conference, chatting with the Big Guy, and writing in my journal. I also spent some time thinking about the concept of love and the different ways in which the word is used, both in scripture and American society.
Specifically, I’ve been thinking about what it feels like to love God and how that love is different from other definitions we ascribe to the same word.
I’ve thought about this on and off for years, and I’ve started a word study recently to try to better understand.
I spent a decent little while talking with Heather and Hans about it, and I’m not going to go into it much here. Hopefully, I’ll discipline myself to write my spiritual thoughts in separate posts, as I don’t want those readers of mine who see the universe very differently than I do to have to wade through lots of perspectives they don’t agree with just to see what’s going on with me in my life. 🤍
Heather and Hans offered to do laundry for me, which was super kind. I don’t really have much, because pretty much we’re the same thing every single day since I’m working outside a lot, and then I just jump in the springs which rinses everything off and makes it all nice and fresh again. 🙃
But I did have some, and I’m grateful to them for taking their time to do that for me. 🙏
Speaking of the springs, after veging out for a little bit, I headed over to the springs to take a bath before the festivities tonight.
I should have realized that the park would be busy on the 4th of July, but gratefully, no one was in the part of the river where I often go, so I wandered down, passing a large gopher snake along the way that I at first thought might be a rattlesnake, because the top of the snake looks similar to the rattlesnakes here.
My bath was quite refreshing, and I hopped back in my van and drove on up the road all nice and wet (and clean).
I was a bit early for the festivities at the branch member’s house we were invited to, so I stopped over at the church parking lot and hung out there for a little bit before heading over.
It was a fun night. 😊
I better got to know multiple of the branch members who were there. The food was fantastic, and after dinner, we passed the time playing a cornhole tournament (that surprisingly took pretty much the whole night 🙃), Hans coming out on top as the champion. 🏆
We enjoyed the dinner, the games, the company, and the fireworks (the members’ house sits on a hilltop overlooking the town, so it was a great view of the fireworks in the distance).
Good stuff. 😊
I don’t remember what time we got home, but it was probably around 10:30 or 11ish?
Happy Independence Day, my lovelies. 😊
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 