My Lover

"Beloved

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.

Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the maidens love you!

Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.

Friends

We rejoice and delight in you;
we will praise your love more than wine."

-Song of Songs 1:2-4

Faithful Lover,

You've captured me

Great pursuer,

To you I succumb

You've breathed life

Into this heart

That was nothing more than numb

You call me dark, yet lovely

Your long-courted reward

I rest in your arms

Peaceful

Knowing I'm adored

Redeeming Lover,

You've stolen my heart

And taken it ransom with your grace

You held me,

Healed me,

Comforted me

As tears trailed down my face

I was nothing more than a piece of trash

Used and tossed aside

But you see me through unblemished eyes

As your pure and perfect Bride

Beautiful Lover,

You've romanced me

Press your heart to mine

Intertwine our ardent souls

Until we beat as one

Your scent envelops my senses

So rich

Better than the darkest wine

I am forever yours,

My beloved,

And you

Forever mine

Letter from the Homeward Bound

A simple letter from the departed

Weep not, my weary love

Cry for me no more

My spirit's free

And welcomed home

As I step through Heaven's door

Fear not, my faithful friend

I've arrived safe and sound

Let go your sorrow

At the approach of dawn

For there joy will be found

Mourn not, my sweet mother

My Father sends His love

For you held,

You taught,

You protected me

As He watched from above

Shout praises, brothers and sisters!

I'm finally where I belong

My heart rejoices

With angels' voices

As we join in Heaven's song

Jónsi, Ephesians, and Perfume.

Go sing, too loud

Make your voice break

Sing it out

-"Go Do" by Jónsi

My mother has been asking me for awhile to start writing again, but up until now I just haven't found much inspiration. I am quite ecstatic about what's going on in my daily life (from school--which is proving to be one of the best choices I've made to date--and church to friends and work), but I think that I've lately been too caught up in the busy, though not overly chaotic, flow of my schedule to truly appreciate the beauty that constantly surrounds me. For the past few weeks I've been trying my best to slow down a bit and open my eyes, broaden my mind, and try to grasp even the slightest understanding of what God desires for me in this season (I feel like I've written about this sort of thing before, but I don't think it's redundant to seek the Lord's guidance with every new chapter of life).

I live in a beautiful mess of a city. Atlanta is diverse, it's expansive, and it evokes so many different emotions from me that I don't know where to begin. Since moving to Midtown, I have met new people in restaurants and coffee shops, at the park and on the streets, and pretty much everywhere else I can frequently be found. Not one person I've met shares the exact same story as another, but every person does share one common quality:

They crave love.

I know I often write about loving people, but I feel like I'm being challenged to do it in a way I've never experienced before. The beginning of Ephesians 5 says, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." This kind of love, a God-reflecting love, requires total and complete abandon. It's more than just selflessness; it's no-holds-barred, free of inhibitions, wild and crazy love. Childlike love. Love like my niece feels for her little brother, the kind that inspires him to follow her everywhere she goes, regardless of the fact that she can run and he can only crawl, because he just wants to be wherever she is. We should be so enthralled by our Father's love for us that our greatest desire is to dwell in His presence; if we are truly living as children of God, His love will overflow from us, revealing His heart to everyone we encounter. Baristas, classmates, co-workers, neighbors, and every person we encounter will see something different in us. They will see past us, and, even if they cannot yet identify it, they will catch a glimpse of the kind of love God wants to lavish on them.

This love requires our sacrifice. We have to die to our fears of the world, our fears of seeming foolish or naive. We have to sacrifice our pride and our vanity, but doing so will leave us so rich with the fragrant love of our Father that we will be like the sweetest and most irresistible perfume available.

We might not always smell sweet; we all have our "off" days, the ones where one thing or another puts us in a foul, self-absorbed mood, thus leaving us smelling more like a JV football team's locker room than Chanel No. 5, but that is why we serve a forgiving God. Even though we might end up reeking of the world, His fragrance is never any less perfect.

So let's do it. Let's sing too loud. Let's play in the rain. Let's be childlike. We have nothing to lose but the chains holding us down.

Make your voice break. Sing it out.

Peace and love,

Lo B.

A proposal.

I haven't been feeling particularly inspired to write lately, but this morning I received a Facebook message that changed it all...

The message came from a friend of my brother's, a guy I have seen once since middle school. While my first thought upon reading the message was, ahem, something I don't think I need to print, my second thought was, "This is hilarious. I will respond, then copy it all to my blog."

P.S. Rachel Robbins, if you read this, please know that I actually LOVE Utah and want to come visit you.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my mother and I did:

A proposal

Between You and Lee Reeves

Lee Reeves November 18 at 11:42pm

Dear Logan,

I’m writing you today with a proposal. Something that has been on my mind quite a while now. I think that you and I should date, and eventually be married. (I told you this was a proposal) Yes, I know this may come as a shock to you especially since we have not spoken in a while. However, I am very convinced this is the right decision, and hopefully by the end of this letter you will be too. I’ll start by reminding you that when you were in 7th grade we had the same chorus class. If you recall we often flirted during this class. Of course it was middle school, but one cannot deny the intense connection we shared. I know some where deep down you think about this from time to time. Obviously we’ve changed since then, but 21 is just 12 backwards only way better. For instance I no longer put gel in my hair, and if you like you could style my hair any way you want. I’ve also become a much less picky eater, and I’ll eat anything you bring home from your future culinary classes. I’ll even make you laugh while I eat it. Occasionally I make people laugh. Just imagine you’re having a hard day at school. That jerk, chef professor won’t cut you any slack, but when you get home I’ll devour that torta rustica and tell you a knock knock joke. Then, knowing you need a something fun to look forward to I’ll buy you and your girl friends Justin Nozuka tickets. I won’t even mind if you dance on stage with him as long as you agree to travel to Brazil with me in the summer. I know you love to travel, and so do I. I know what you’re thinking though, “Lee, how will you ever have the money for Nozuka tickets and Brazil?” Well Logan, I will have an excellent business degree after I graduate from Auburn. I know that money isn’t everything, but thats why I give a mean back scratch. Not to mention if you need some jewelry I have perfected the art of macaroni necklaces. I might even propose with a mac and cheese engagement ring. Then we could elope because true love shouldn’t be a show for the world, but we could shout out our love from the roof tops if we so desire. Now Logan I know you have to be thinking “Lee, this seems like the most perfect plan ever. What’s the catch?” I was afraid you would ask this, but I’m going to be honest with you. I am not actually in love with you. Recently Alex, Ryan (my roommate), and I were planning how we could hang out forever. We decided marrying each others sisters would be the perfect way to accomplish this. I understand this could be a deal breaker. Why would you want to be a with a guy who only pretends to love you? I’ll tell you why. Because eventually every guy will be pretending. When he realizes that, he might just leave, but since I’ve always known that I’m pretending I won’t leave. You will have someone who seems to care for you in a deep way forever. I promise you won’t be able to tell a difference. Think about it. I’ll always put up with the stuff that annoys me. I’ll apologize every time I’m wrong no questions asked. We can decorate the house any way you want. Basically you will have it all. Just say yes.

With (fake) love,

Lee Reeves

Logan Baker November 19 at 9:37a

Dear Lee,

While I appreciate the (fake) sentiments and the obvious thought you've put into this plan, I'm afraid I cannot accept your proposal. Instead of just blowing you off like most girls would, I will include substantial support in my argument against this idea us marrying.

In 7th grade, I was (trying) to flirt with Tyler McMullen. Megan Castleberry and I thought he was quite the "hottie," so I offer my deepest condolences for your misinterpretation of my juvenile attempts at capturing his interest.

As far as culinary school goes, I'm going for patisserie and baking, and I don't remember seeing meat-filled pastries in the curriculum; therefore, I will not be making torta rustica, and you would either have to go hungry or risk becoming diabetic after eating my sugary assignments each night. Going along with that, I think jokes are highly overrated. If you bought me tickets to see Justin Nozuka and he asked me to dance on stage with him, I'm pretty sure that would lead him to eventually propose to me, too. I would accept, and we would all have to move to Utah for that to work out. Utah is a little too cold for my taste, so I would end up leaving you pretty quickly and running away with Justin. Maybe we would even run away to Brazil, just for the sheer irony of it all.

When it comes to jewelry, I prefer turquoise. Everyone knows mac & cheese is not, nor will it ever be, turquoise. I know it's been said that if you like it you should put a ring on it, but what isn't often mentioned is that you can't put the ring on it if she doesn't like it. Make sense?

So even though I think your little plan is clever, I just don't think it's going to work out. It's so nice to know that no man will ever truly love me; Disney ruined that truth for me when I was little, and I guess the Bible lied to me as well. Thank you for your honesty.

And I hear our niece, Emerson, is still on the market. She's two, so you might have to work on potty-training her and teaching her not to eat her mac & cheese ring.

(Not) sincerely,

Logan Baker

P.S. you're kind of weird

The Mustache resurfaces...in an unusual way.

If you remember my blog about THE MUSTACHE (you know what I'm talking about) my friend Merridith and I spotted at Octane, you'll be thrilled to know that it has been spotted again...in a whole new fashion.

It's on the cover of the new issue of Atlanta's Creative Loafing.

For real.

Apparently the Mustache's slave-man is known for roller-blading around Atlanta while sporting a tutu. While he's not wearing a tutu in the picture, I must admire his boldness in rocking the jorts (jean shorts). He's taken them to new heights. My mind is literally going in a hundred different directions right now--I literally just found out about this--so I will leave you with a picture of the Mighty 'Stache. In case you're blind and can't guess, it's on the far right...

I'm a jerk.

A month or two ago, a friend of mine told me a story about how he was driving to a friend's house when he came upon a car that had run off the road. He, along with another car full of non-English speaking friends, helped the driver push the stranded car out of the ditch it was in and made sure the car was working. I was pretty pumped to hear this story of selflessness, especially because it involved a language of love more than it did verbal communication, and since then I've asked God to give me opportunities to show His love to others in a similar way. I asked Him to lead me outside my comfort zone and to continue to humble me.

I was driving to church last night for our college ministry's weekly shindig, and I was running a little late. It was raining, and traffic was worse than usual because the storms had blown out the lights at a major intersection on the way to church. As I turned onto a new road, I realized the lady in front of me was stopped even though there was nobody ahead of her...or so I thought.

A guy had pulled onto our side of the road (for a reason I don't know) and his car was dead. He was desperately trying to push it out of the way of the lady in front of me, but he wasn't finding much success on his own. I sat in my car for a minute, watching him and thinking, "I should really help him."

I didn't.

The lady in the car in front of me parked her car and began to help the guy push his car. They were still having trouble. Again, I thought, "I should really help," but I convinced myself that it was a bad idea because A) I was running late for church, and OBVIOUSLY God wouldn't want me to be late for church (yes, that sentence is dripping with sarcasm) and B) I was wearing a dress and heels, and I probably would've flashed dozens of innocent drivers watching the incident from the other lane.

Seriously, those were my excuses to myself.

I kept hearing the Holy Spirit tell me to go, and I kept fighting back. My flesh took over. Anyone who knows me well knows that I can be quite persuasive, but I always know better than to try to persuade myself of anything. I knew that my excuses were, pardon my French, total bull. A) Had I helped, I wouldn't have ended up sitting in traffic for as long as I did, thus actually getting me to church EARLY instead of late, and B) I knew my outfit was cute, and I didn't want to get wet or risk messing up my style for the evening. That's right, I was being totally and completely selfish, proud, and vain. Even in the midst of the whole situation, I was pretty disgusted with myself. Instead of being a Good Samaritan, I chose to be the priest. I chose to acknowledge my Father with my mouth, but to ignore Him with my actions.

The good news is that the woman and man were able to safely push the car out of the way, and we all got along with the rest of our evenings. Some more good news is that I learned more than I could imagine from this ten minute ordeal, and I know I don't ever again want to feel like I did after being such a jerk. More good news--I know God will give me (and you) other opportunities to make His glory known to our neighbors through simple acts of love and service. Love God. Love others.

Try it.

Peace and Love,

Lo B.

Maw-wage...maw-wage is what bwings us togeva today.

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I'm not overly keen on weddings. I love the concept of them, but I usually feel like they become too much of a spectacle. Most couples tend to spend more money and time planning that one day than they do investing in their relationship.

Last night, however, I was proud to be a part of a wedding that I've been eagerly awaiting for over three years.

That's right, I'm talking about Jim and Pam.

If you don't watch "The Office" you might as well stop reading right now. If you are a fan of the show, then I'm pretty sure you'll agree that Jim and Pam's wedding surpassed most any expectations held. From Jim's toast to the copy of the infamous "Forever" dance down the aisle to the elopement on the ferry, the show was absolutely brilliant. I was just glad to see that America's favorite fictional couple looked past the chaos that typically surrounds weddings and took their exchanging of vows back to a simpler, sweeter place. They did me proud.

I don't know if it's a good thing to admit, but I think I might have been more emotionally involved in this wedding than I have been in about 80% of those that I've attended in the past couple of years. Don't judge me, though...you know you feel the same way.