What's in a Name?

I have been blogging off and on for several years now. I started out on Livejournal, I think, during my freshman year in college. Then I moved over to Xanga, because I knew more people there. THEN I blogged on myspace, and finally made the grand jump here to Blogger. The content of my original blogs is pretty much the typical ramblings of an early twenty-something college student, lost in a world full of starbucks, boyfriends, and all night study sessions. Pretty dull. Then when I became pregnant with Sweetpea, they morphed into a sort of online pregnancy journal, but still nothing of any substance--just me sharing my journey through first time pregnancy.

When I made the move to Blogger, initially for privacy reasons(which is a story all in itself), I wanted to start writing about something that mattered, or at least something someone else could find interest in. If you read my early posts, they are still your general run-of-the-mill motherhood posts UNTIL I discovered that sharing newfound drive to renew my relationship with Christ and my husband. While I still post about your average homemaking adventures, there is a little more bounce in my step, as I have discovered what a sacred calling it is to be a keeper at home, which has enhanced all areas of my life as I embrace that which God has designed.

All that being said, the title of my blog may seem odd to my readers(however few there are) and it was brought to my attention that it may even seem silly(some negative nellies had some not so nice things to say about me and my "crazy religious views"). Even though it was mentioned in a not so positive fashion, I still realized that it was true to an extent---what does the title of this blog have to do with homemaking or motherhood or anything for that matter?

So, here I am to tell you the significance of my blog title.

When I was in college, I became a member of a fantastic sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. During that time, I was introduced to a children's book that I had never seen before, Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney. In this story, a little nutbrown hare, in his precocious fashion, questions his father about the extent of his love. The adorable pair playfully banter back and forth about who loves the other more. In the end, the father seemingly allows the child to "win" by letting them have the last word as he is being tucked in for the night. The little hare exclaims that he loves his father all the way to the moon! But, just as the father himself drifts off, he whispers, that he loves his child all the way to the moon, indeed, but he adds that he also loves him all the way back! It is a wonderful story that touched a place in my heart then.

When I was pregnant with Sweetpea, I remembered the story and made sure that I had a copy to read to my very first child. Once she was born, I could relate to story ever so much more as I looked into my newborn daughter's eyes. The words became real to me.

Over time, I have developed a mini obsession with this story and we own SEVERAL copies in different shapes and sizes; board books, a large teacher's edition, special editions, etc. I even have a crib set with the pair of nutbrown bunnies traipsing about. The message is just so prominent to me. It describes perfectly how I feel about my husband, my children, and of course(especially with my reawakened faith) my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love them so much that it is like my love stretches all the way to the moon AND back. It encompasses how far I will go to please them, nurture them, teach them, share with them, serve them. Is it corny? Of course! But that is what makes it that much more special to me.