Dear Friends,

I remember being a little girl and getting a dollar from my father to "buy" one of these poppies. (Remember the strange, stiff crepe paper with the dusty red color that rubbed off?!). As a small child, I simply thought they were flowers that meant "Spring is Here." As an adult, they mean so much more. And I miss them. How about you? Read this fascinating story behind the poppies from the US government's internet history site and tell me if you remember, too.

Dear Friends,

We're keeping our Valentine's video going through the week-end to encourage as many hearts as possible, especially the lonely ones. If you know someone who could use a boost on Valentine's Day, please use the link above to pass it along to a friend who may be alone and discouraged.

We also have some other romance and valentine-related videos posted here for you to take a look at. And we'll have a brand new video for you next Tuesday.

In the meantime, please consider this - that love, romantic love, family love, filial love, patriotic love, love for friends, for beauty, for truth, love that lifts and supports and hopes all things and endures all things, every kind of true love has a Source that is Love Itself. It is the Love that never leaves us, forsakes us, or betrays us. It is the Love that created you and me and even St. Valentine and formed a place in our hearts to carry that love. No other love can fill that God-shaped space.

This Valentine's Day, don't be afraid to tell the ones you love that you love them. If you've lost them, go find them. And if that God-shaped hole in your heart is still waiting to be filled, this just might be a great day to let His love find YOU.

Love to all,
Martha

For more Valentine videos, watch One Little Cup of Coffee and The Tie That Binds

Hey! It's Christmas! So, what are you doing at the computer?

I was hoping you'd be having dinner with your family or your friends, or maybe opening presents, or on your way out to someone's house for turkey. But if you're not, then I'm guessing you logged on because you really DID need a touch of encouragement today. Maybe the family dynamics are getting messy right now? A difficult relative. Or maybe a missing one. Maybe it's not the "big" Christmas that other years and other economies made possible. Maybe you just don't feel very good.

Happy December, dear Friends!

If your month is anything like mine, it's busy, busy, busy. The economic crisis has challenged us all to downsize and re-think gift-giving, which has been a good thing, I think. It forces me to be more creative and more personal. Instead of the shiny store-bought presents for family and friends, we are making a gift book for everyone on our list this year. (Oops, I think I just gave away the surprise!). Oh, well, I won't mention what the book is about, okay?

Watch
The Rock in the Woods

I wonder if any of you are like me, celebrating your own personal "new year" on another day besides January 1?

Of course, there are cultural new years on other days on the calendar, such as Chinese New Year. But I'm talking about the day that you might consciously or unconsciously choose as a sort of anniversary where you take stock of yourself to where you were a year ago.

Watch
Letter to a College Kid

Our Mother's Day video got a great deal of response. So many moving stories from you about your own mothers and your plans to honor them. I was deeply affected by the letters from those of you who have recently lost your moms; this will be a hard Mother's Day for you and our prayers are with you.

One of the most interesting comments was from a young lady named Lizzie, who apologized that her letter wasn't really about mothers at all. Here's what she wrote:

We've had such a marvelous response to this week's Mother's Day video that we're going to keep running it through Sunday. So instead of a new video, here's a Mother's Day blog for the week-end. Hope it encourages you to make some unique memories this Sunday!

I have lots of photographs of my mother and father at different times in their lives. I have furniture and books they left behind. But it's the notations in the books that are precious to me. It's the scratch on the table and the memory of the dropped hammer that made the scratch that I love more than the table itself.

The night before St. Patrick's Day my six year-old asked, "do we get presents tomorrow?" I shook my head and said no, it's not that kind of holiday.

But then I started thinking and I realized that St. Patrick's Day is something quite unique and worth celebrating as a kind of gift in itself. It's the only day I can think of where we all adopt a culture as our own for a day. Folks of every color and heritage are wearing green today.

I know we've been celebrating President's Day, but I want to talk about a soldier. I saw him the day before yesterday as my husband and I shared a cozy lunch in the cavernous dining room at the grand old Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Park.

It's hard to imagine being cozy in a room that probably seats a thousand, but that's the magic of the place; every corner is a wood and stone masterpiece, with soaring glass windows that look out to the massive granite cliffs of the valley. Its arts and crafts feel combined with Native American themes is timeless and I wouldn't have been surprised to see Teddy Roosevelt or Lady Astor or even Herbert Hoover walk in.

Dear Friends,

Okay, it may be a few days after Valentine's Day, but I'm keeping the "Coffee Cup" video up until next week, because I loved the responses it has received so far and I'm hoping for more. I laughed and sighed and even got a lump in my throat just reading the first seven COMMENTS.

All seven, Betty, Sara, Kathy, Linda, Margaret, Theresa, and "cappricioso" had a "Cup of Coffee" to share about their marriage. Everything from electric car heaters to an emergency flashlight "just in case" to simple questions like "when will you be home?"

This morning Jon and I were shopping in a wonderfully cozy little gift shop near Yosemite called Chocolate Soup in Mariposa, California. Terrific variety, wonderful folks behind the counter, lots of fun, frilly things that make husbands shiver and look for the nearest exit. But Jon soldiered on through the scented soaps and the hanging candle holders and acted as though he had never, ever been dragged through one of these places before. God bless him.

Dear Friends,

I am running off today to celebrate my tenth anniversary with my wonderful husband, Jon. Okay, I'm not running off. I'm actually sitting here with ice on my left foot, wondering if I broke my toe. So much for that romantic dream of hiking through the woods on Valentine's Day.

Yes, we were married on Valentine's Day. It seemed appropriate to make that the happiest day of my life since, until that day in 1998, Valentine's Day had regularly provided some of the unhappiest days of my life.

I awoke this morning humming that touching, heartbreaking song from "The King and I" sung so beautifully in the film by Deborah Kerr. "Hello, Young Lovers, wherever you are. Be brave and faithful and true.... All my good wishes are with you tonight. I've had a love like you..."

On the last night of December, sixteen hundred and two years ago, according to Thomas Cahill, author of "How The Irish Saved Civilization", "the Rhine river froze solid, providing the natural bridge that hundreds of thousands of hungry men, women, and children had been waiting for...." With this he begins the story of the fall of the Roman Empire, describing the charge of "barbarians" against the Romans. Cahill's marvelous book grabs you and never lets you go until you are convinced that the Irish did, indeed, provide their own bridge of civilization between the classical and medieval worlds.

I saw a survey yesterday that confirmed that neighborhood Christmas caroling is on the wane. With clickable advent calendars and online shopping, the demise of neighborhood carolers is not a surprise to anyone. But it is sad. I was mourning the disappearance of those "good old days" last night as my husband and I walked our children home from a dinner at a friends' house. So, I started singing "Deck The Halls." Jon and the girls joined in. We segued to "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and as we turned the corner we began "We Three Kings."

We were a tiny little group of carolers and I wondered if anyone could even hear us out there in the dark. And what would they think if they could? I got my answer almost instantly. From a few houses down we heard a voice crying out in the wilderness, or at least singing out into the darkness: "Ohhh, ohhhh! Star of Wonder! Star of Light! Star with royal beauty bright!" It was a rich, deep baritone voice coming from a ladder across the street where someone was hanging a string of Christmas lights. We couldn't see his face, we never even spoke, but we sang the whole song with him as we walked down the sidewalk. We crossed the street as he swung into "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire (The Christmas Song)" and harmonized with us until we turned into our driveway. "Although it's been said many times, many ways: Merry Christmas to you!" And we called out into the night "Good-night!" And he called back "Merry Christmas!" And I sighed and smiled. Maybe there are few "good old days" still left.