Good morning... So many of us loved yesterday's post, She Let Go. Why are we so touched by this Ernest Holmes poem? Because we feel seen, known, and accepted, as we hide behind the bricks in our self-protective wall. Incessant thoughts. Too many words. Fears. Judgements. Swarming opinions. Our committee of indecision. All the "right" reasons. Hesitation. Worry. Conflicting [...]
Good morning... I had a nightmare when I was away for a wedding weekend in late January. I woke panicked, completely panicked. Abruptly I woke early in a cold, clammy sweat. My nightmare involved you, the community of subscribers to my everyday blog. Before flying to Florida, I had pre-programmed three posts for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I [...]
Good morning... During our Spiritual Direction training program, our visiting professor Jan Johnson called me forward. She invited me to sit in a chair in front of the whole class. Jan stood beside me, leaning in close, gently laying her hands on my head, softly stroking my hair, as she slowly recited the 23rd Psalm from the Message translation. [...]
Good morning... “I try to be slow to respond and quick to think,” says beloved author and human behavior researcher Brene Brown. “I also stay very mindful about the effect that calm has on an anxious person or situation. A panicked response produces more panic and more fear. As psychologist and writer Harriet Lerner says, ‘Anxiety is extremely contagious, [...]
Good morning... "Contemplation is taking a long, loving look at something," softly said pianist Dana Cunningham during yesterday's Awake To Wellness Women's Retreat. This morning, I take a long, loving look at two stick figure people juxtaposed on my page of notes, a drawing etched as author Dr. Cathy Snapp joyfully taught. The skeleton stick figure on the left [...]
Good morning... After sharing a quote in yesterday's post from Jan Johnson's When The Soul Listens, I quietly rest in the rest of the nurturing chapter. I eat from the feast prepared on pages 170 and 171. ****** The rhythm of action and contemplation makes compassion fatigue and burnout unnecessary. Your conversational life with God will keep you richly [...]
Good morning... In one week this fall, I learned the root meaning of two key words. One Thursday morning, I learned: "anxiety" means "to choke." I get that. When I get anxious, I tighten up. I spiral down inwardly, constricting myself. I cut off my own air supply with obsessively anxious thoughts. The next Tuesday afternoon, I learned: "conspire" means [...]
Good morning... "I remember feeling pregnant with twins," she wrote me after yesterday's post, I Feel Pregnant With Quadruplets. "My husband would ask how I felt each day and my answer was always, "Heavy, I feel heavy." Not "I feel fat," but "I feel heavy." Heavy from the physical load on my body and heavy from the emotional load [...]
Good morning... Last week, I held my head like a 9-month-pregnant belly. My spiritual director said, "I have never seen you do that before, holding you head with both hands like you are trying to keep it from exploding." It's true. I felt like my brain could burst at any time with all the doubling daily details. This spring, [...]
Good morning... Yesterday's post, Living A Secret, ended with an empowering statement: I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace (Philippians 4:13, AMP). Infuse. I do not meet that word very often, yet just now I open my book to read today's Bible study homework and here are the paragraphs [...]
