Linda Stoll: Porch #35 * Valentine's Weekend

Welcome back to Porch,
your go-to weekend companion.
Embrace community.
Discover a fresh perspective.
Grow your faith in Christ.
Get unstuck.
Share your story.

💗

May I be the first to wish you Happy Valentine's Day!

You guys are the absolute best. I am so grateful for your presence in my life.

You bring tons of insight and kindness to the table. You're generous with encouragement and the wisdom you've gleaned through the hard times. Sometimes you courageously process what you're learning about life and faith. Other times you make us laugh right out loud.

We discover yet again that we're not alone. We take turns mentoring and being mentored, praying and being prayed for. Spiritual iron sharpens spiritual iron, grace births more grace.

We're all students, no one's arrived, we're all a work in progress. I trust you'll always find something here that will calm you, give you hope, and bring you closer to the Lover of your sweet soul.

Please know that there's plenty of room at the table for you, especially if you're new to online conversation. It's called the comment section. And the welcome mat is out for you and your unique perspective. Join us ... please?!

💗

If ever a holiday has the potential to make someone feel less than or forgotten, it's this heart-shaped one. More than ever, isolation and loneliness have crept in unannounced and uninvited, leaving far too many souls unmoored from a sense of place and purpose.

How 'bout we join hearts and commit to flipping Valentine's Day 2022 upside down and inside out. What would it look like to show the love of Jesus in a tangible, creative way to someone you might not normally connect with?! I can guarantee you won't have to look far to find someone who's in need of the unique encouragement that only you can offer.

Because out on the highways and byways of life, many are weary and sad 🎶

It's a simple token of a boy's love for his mama, pieced together with childish determination, eager little hands, and sticky paste-in-a-jar. The card is a bit worse for wear, edges worn, sepia tinged, red ribbons hanging on for dear life.

The raggedly cut heart is a bit bruised and frayed along the edges. But it still holds tight.

The little boy is now grown and met his bride half a century ago this summer. He wears his mama's shade of hair, as do his daughters and many of his grandchildren.

Those childish hands are now strong, capable, and always ready to mend and reconfigure, fix and assist. They craft beautiful pieces of furniture and help build houses.

The card has faded over time, even as the man has grown into a servant-hearted helper, a steady mentor, a lover of God.

Protective. Vigilant. Wise. Fun. Generous. And sometimes very tender.