Good morning... On Wednesday night in the Northside Church sanctuary, Ron Greer shared wisdom with us from his new book The Quiet House: Reflections on the Loss of a Spouse. He said, "This book is like a parable, a story with a lesson. Parable also means 'placing beside,' a story we place beside the story of our lives. [...]
Good morning... At eighty-five years old, my mom is beaming, buoyant, beautiful. She has pushed through really tough medical challenges these past few years. With her moving through the ICU twice, I have paid close attention to one of my favorite poets who has recently been writing about her own mother in the ICU. Her mom also has [...]
Good morning... Now that our kids are grown, I love generating joy with other children. This Halloween morning would feel so different for me without the fun memories made yesterday. There are moments when I waste the time gifted to me. Selfish. Ho-hum. Disconnected. [...]
Good morning... In our Friday morning group, we hosted a surprise birthday party for one of our friends. Classmates brought gifts and notes, balloons and a homemade cake. Along with briefly discussing our chapter, we created sandtrays, forming an expressive world with miniature symbols in colorful sand, verbally describing how it feels to gather weekly with our loyal [...]
Good morning... As we wake on World Gratitude Day 2023, I am totally thankful for unplanned God-moments like the one I experienced yesterday morning. Okay. So we have random books strewn throughout our home. With six people having lived in our family for over the past twenty-eight years, we have remnants of days gone by littering our living [...]
Good morning... The wild thunderstorm outside matches how I feel on the inside. Drenched. I feel drenched with swirling emotions. The wordless prayer card above has been sitting beside me for the past few weeks, silently speaking my hidden worries and my deepest desires. The image reminds me of the bright, light-filled kitchen table in my parents' independent [...]
Good morning... It doesn't interest me to know... what my husband and I will look like as we age. I want to know... how to connect amid the toxicity of our world. I want to know... how to rise above my self-protection (my clenched fists, my rushing forward, my eyes down), rising above to let my true colors [...]
Good morning... I smile at this framed cross-stitch saying my mom made for me a few years back. During the pandemic pause, my mom watched from afar as our ministry to women continued to thrive, mainly through our interactive daily blog posts and through individually scheduled walk-and-talks, outside, one-on-one, social distanced. When my 58th birthday came around in [...]
Good morning... My parents' performance of "Guys and Dolls" at their senior living community near Cleveland, Ohio was priceless, just priceless. The joy filling the room was palpable as I soaked in the experience with my sister and her family. As our mom waved [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, I flew to Cleveland, Ohio to watch my parents perform "Guys and Dolls" with sixty friends from their senior living community. The place is abuzz! At ages 85 and 86, they fit right in with the cast and the chorus members who range from age 72 to 96. Having practiced twice a week for months [...]
