Mud Pie

"L is for the way you look at me. 

O is for the only one I see.

V is very, very extraordinary. 

E is even more than anyone that you adore can"

If you were like me as a child, you would watch the same movie over and over again. My childhood was serenaded with this song, starting first on the Little Rascals, then showing up in The Parent Trap (with Lindsay Lohan). These videos would be played in our household VCR at least once a week (*gasp..do you remember what a VCR is?). Needless to say, this song above was on their soundtracks. It’s a classic, right? How many awesome classics can you remember dancing to wedding after wedding? Each includes a whole ton of fun, all those mushy gushy feelings, and maybe even being held by someone of the opposite gender. Now, I’m a definite lover of music, this should be no surprise to anyone who knows me.  Frankly speaking, most music is a lie. I can’t help but be overwhelmed with my gut feeling that they’ve got it all wrong.

 I was in third grade, standing on the porch waiting for the bus to pick me up and I was using my top-notch persuasive skills to get my mother to allow me to listen to the Backstreet Boys. In our household at the time, the Backstreet Boys weren’t allowed. “Well Kayla,” said mother dearest, “what do the Backstreet Boys sing about?” “Well...love!” Come on Mom, step into the mind of your 8-year-old. All the cool people sing about love (and obviously, all the cool girls at school were listening to the Backstreet Boys)! So simple, so naive, I hadn’t a clue as to what that really meant. And here I sit 14 years later still naive with a view of love that is still too simple.

I’ve already been pinned as the “love girl” here on team—anything having to do with love, I’m basically all over it. You’re probably right now processing the stereotype “it’s just because she’s a girl and girls are driven by a need to feel loved” blahblahblah. Please! Wait! Stop! I promise, I promise you I’m not your average girl in terms of this lovey-dovey crap (ok, so it’s not crap, but you get my gist). The deal is I’ve just been really driven to uncover what this little four letter word truly stands for. This is what I’ve got so far… Now please, keep in mind I’m just a kid, no scholar, no expert. I’m not claiming to know squat-diddly. In a way I feel like my overalls are rolled up to my knees, my sneakers are untied, my hair is whisped all over the place and I’m presenting you with the prettiest mud-pie you have ever seen. I even picked a dandelion out of the garden to add my own special touch.  But the mud-pie is all mine and I’ve been cooking it for hours and hours and hours: the mud-pie of Love.

Love is a verb.

Verbs are words of action.

There is no other verb that incorporates more action than Love.

It is the most active word one could ever speak of, or ever try to complete. In fact, it is so full of action, that no one can truly complete it [as a human]. Crazy, with our casual use of such an active word that we would still be trapped in the obesity epidemic…. I digress…

You see, there’s this Book from like, a really long time ago. It’s really a big compilation of books and letters and doo-dads that are basically life changing. In this Book, there is this author John, who [turns out] is a pretty romantic guy. As I was reading a lot of his work I was quickly able to see that John had a lot of really good insights on LOVE. He talks so much about it and truly challenges his audience to allow it to drive their life. At first, I thought “yea, ok, he’s got some good stuff to say.” Upon further investigation I came to find that John was, in fact, the disciple that J-dawg loved. [You know, the big J.C.?] So here’s what Im thinkin’:

• First of all, what a cool title. “John, the disciple that J.C. loved”.

• Given the title, can you imagine what John was exposed to? What an awesome life that must have been to be loved by J.C…in the flesh! I mean, we’re all loved by Him, and He loved all of his disciples. But to have ‘J.C loving you’ as part of your title? As what people know you by? Hello, that’s awesome. John got to experience His love in a one on one way that neither you nor I can fathom. That being said...

• With all that John got to experience the dude is probably the best love-expert that ever walked the earth.  Plus, he’s a really good author--we have books that were written by him (they’re in the big Book). His writing style is seriously unique when pinned next to all the other authors. I’m pretty sure he and I would be good friends. I digress…  

For a long period in my life [and even today to some degree] I really and truly had/have no tolerance for any lovey-dovey heart tingly stuff. But to quote (the one and only) me from a recent reflection: “day by day I’m more and more convinced that our lives are nothing more than a quest in seeking, obtaining, understanding {and implementing} a Great Romance.” We love because He first loved us, and He is love. For centuries and centuries this epic plot has been in existence to win the world back with this Ultimate Love. It’s like Harry Potter on every trippy drug and beefy steroid multiplied by an exponentially growing number.

These are just {some} of my thoughts. There are oh, so many more. Instead, I’m about to get all teacher on you: I’m not going to give you any answers. Your own education is your own responsibility. I’ve done my job by exposing you to greatness; the rest is up to you. [if you’ve never checked out the Book before, check out John, first. If you’re looking for something to do in your spare time check out first John.]