Good morning… I received many encouraging emails hoping for a meaningful, memorable meal after yesterday's post, 'Our 6:00 am birthday party.' Truthfully, our family's early morning celebration was a complete dud. Annoyed, sleeping siblings hugged a halfhearted "Happy birthday," before climbing back into bed for an extra hour of sleep. No pancakes were eaten. Most of the eggs were [...]
Good morning... On the spur of this moment, I am planning a 6:00 am surprise birthday party. My son turns 22 today. My daughter turns 20 tomorrow. Snow is predicted to shut down Atlanta this afternoon, wreaking havoc on our Plan A birthday plans. So, unbeknownst to my sleeping family, eggs and pancakes, and birthday cake and presents will [...]
Good morning... God sparks in me a quirky reading of Matthew 8:23-26 (NIV). Then Jesus got in the boat and his disciples followed him...they sailed on to Christmas morn. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake... "What if I don't get everything done?" "How do I allow my 'difficult person' to change my entire mood?" "Why do [...]
Good morning... As I sat in dense, inching traffic at 5:45 pm, I felt gratitude gradually grow. With the winter sun setting early, I was unexpectedly stopped, stilled in awe. I watched God at work, painting playful pastels in the evening sky. Had I focused my eyes on the bumper to bumper frustration, anger and anxiety would have welled [...]
Good morning... Last week at our final Monthly Listening Group of the semester, we read aloud the Martha and Mary story (Luke 10:38-42). Since Wednesday morning, the story has continued to percolate in me. The first time through the sacred reading, we looked at the story through the eyes of Martha. As I continue to personalize her experience, I [...]
Good morning... I wake today feeling discombobulated. I slept until nearly 6:00 am so this post may not make our shared-coffee ritual. I just woke from a dream I wish I could unpack immediately. Rain again means dog paws have left dirty patterns on our wood floor, ugh. I must tidy up before the cleaners arrive. I fear yesterday's [...]
Good morning... "When we sit in silence, it’s true, we may not be doing anything. But we are un-doing so much," says blogger Emily P. Freeman. Emily continues: "The soul is made to receive. In the presence of God, we experience a right full-ness. But like a bucket left out in the yard, it will hold anything that comes [...]
Good morning... Yesterday I made a devastating technological mistake. In the wee hours of the night, I woke feeling convicted to send a follow-up email to my Monday class, encouraging the small group to keep confidential a story of transition God is orchestrating in my daughter's life. "It's her story to share, not mine, not ours," I reminded myself [...]
Good morning... As many of you know, I am in the middle of a Spiritual Direction training program and the dense, intense reading is very hard for me. With my dyslexic, ADD brain, I read slowly and I struggle with comprehension. Unlike many of you avid readers, I cannot read for thirty minutes, do another task, then return to [...]
Good morning... Regrets ruin. The unsaid undermines. When the moment is lost, so is the opportunity. As spring fades to summer, my unsaid regrets linger. I have lost an opportunity. I feel convicted to say "I am sorry" for two things this spring. First, in March, I went on two spring break trips back to back. One week to [...]
