Good morning…
“Good morning, Sue,” she texted today at 8:03 am. “This is the second morning your wonderful blog posts have a funky format and are not opening. Anyone else mention that?”
God and I have been working on a computer issue with our web designer for the past thirty-six hours. Something with a server. Something with a glitch. Something with something I know nothing about. So no blog post yesterday. No blog post this morning. Now, after a deep morning discussion by my dear friend’s pool, I am diving into our unusually timed post.
Between our tender morning talk and this exact moment in time, I checked my phone to see the 8:03 am text above. When I looked back at my phone, it had randomly traveled up to an early text shared by this old friend on Monday, December 30th, 2019 at 1:52 pm. Here are the words God laid before my eyes this mid morning, September 4th, 2020.
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Hello Sue!
This morning I made the short drive from Sanibel to Captiva Island to buy coffee since the coffee maker is broken at Bill’s mom’s house.
While I waited in the long line at Starbucks, I caught up in your last two devotionals which I loved and shared with Bill.
Driving back with my two vente coffees, I passed the stretch of beach where we think Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote Gift from the Sea. It made me think of your beautiful Advent devotional, With God Weather Life, and how much I enjoyed it.
Later, Bill and I walked that same beach – I’ve walked it since I was sixteen, and it’s where I’ve had my best “chats” with God. We picked up some shells ? and chuckled that we always picked up the perfect ones, and tossed aside the others. Your devotional helped us see the value in the imperfect shells, but we still compete to find the ones that are the most pristine.
I asked out loud, “What’s the meaning behind the perfect shells?” And then God answered my question, “It’s for a new start!”
Happy New Year Sue!
Here’s a picture of our “perfect” shell collection from this morning’s walk, and last night’s sunset on the beach near where Anne wrote her book.
Sent from my iPhone
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Inspired, I went to the archive of our blog posts available beside each morning message, venturing back to the posts preceding December 30th, 2019: 3:00 A.M. Anxiety. Savor Sabbath: Be Reunited. Unmet Expectations. These titles and wisdom were buoying us way before our old wholeness was broken by the perfect storm of COVID-19, economic upheaval, political polarization, and our aching need for racial reconciliation. In looking back, I sense God was paving our way.
In looking forward, I also sense God paving our way. Beyond my control (I will tell you this story later), God clearly chose Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea as the book for me to teach this fall. Because of the continued spread of coronavirus, I will not be hosting classes in our home this fall, like I have taught groups of women, semester by semester, since September 2005. Instead, we are creating a God-guided study of Gift from the Sea which will include recordings of my voice reading book excerpts at the beach, Scripture verses, additional quotes, music videos, and questions to ponder. God is also creating for us a container where we will be able to anonymously share what the Lord is teaching us collectively, week by week, from September 14th until Thanksgiving week.
This summer God laid on my heart a desire to create an interactive study for the large number of women who are unable to attend weekly classes, by Zoom or in person. Stretched-thin teachers. Mothers home with children who are learning remotely. Overwhelmed essential workers. Introverts who love to learn from the comfort of their home. Caregivers for the vulnerable. Those who are sick or compromised themselves. Grievers in need of privacy as they heal from great losses. Those who travel often or do not live in Atlanta. With this study, God and I are creatively cooking up an out-of-the box way to cloister with God and at the same time connect with each other.
Please touch on this link, www.NorthsideUMC.org/womensclasses, to check out the description of our new God-guided study as well as all of the other fall offerings available through our Women’s Ministry at Northside Church. If a class piques your interest, please register at your convenience. I would love to see your name on a fall roster.
Brokenness and wholeness sometimes hold hands, as evidenced by our unexpected, two-day computer glitch, my friend’s connecting text at 8:03 am, and our insightful ability to look back to see God paving our way while we look forward to see God paving our way. I truly sense Romans 8:9 (AMP) coming true before our open eyes …the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you].
…Sue…
