Good morning... Waking on this Sabbath morn, my muddied heart sits still amid high winds and hard rains of various kinds. Though I am safely up the coast, I feel a prayerful solidarity with those hunkered down in the path of Hurricane Ida. I am praying, minute by minute, for the daughter of a dear friend who finally [...]
Good morning... With summer tipping into fall, my husband and I went to the first high school football game of the season. Lights. Crowds. A buzzing excitement. I could not help but snap a photo of the exuberance of heaven pouring into the ruggedness of earth. Earth feels really rugged right now. There are a lot of rough [...]
Good morning... What a privilege it is to be the Women's Ministry Director at Northside Church here in Atlanta. Since January of 2008, our Program Coordinator and I have been a well-balanced team seeking to connect women in our community to the power of our multi-faceted God. Every August, we announce our new classes for the fall semester. [...]
Good morning... "I asked the LORD what I should preach on today," said the pastor at the funeral. "I was led to a strange scripture - John 19:25." Mary, Jesus’ mother, was standing next to his cross, along with Mary’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus looked down and saw the disciple [...]
Good morning... In these early hours, I pull out my journal and re-read the notes I took as we watched from home the funeral of Dr. Leon Haley, Jr. held yesterday in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dying tragically in a jet skiing accident at 56 years old, Leon is mourned by family, friends, colleagues and three amazing [...]
Good morning... “THERE IS NOTHING MORE TRULY ARTISTIC THAN TO LOVE PEOPLE,” says the Vincent Van Gogh quote on the website of my new nineteen year old friend from Minnesota. Joanna's email from yesterday made my admiring heart smile. ****** Hi Sue! I hope you are having a good start to your week! I just wanted to inform [...]
Good morning... As the first one awake, I wait for the freshly ground coffee to drip through the pot. The pastel sky peeks through the window, reflects off the borrowed black table, and invites me outside. Sipping with the rising sun, my lips and my eyes are filled with delight. [...]
Good morning... The morning after my husband and I returned as Julie's Dream chaperones from a week-long trip to Maine with kids and staff from PAWkids, a friend sent me the follow text: "I hope you saw this. So wonderful!!!!" I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article about the uplifting work of LaTonya Gates, community leader and [...]
Good morning... We have been preparing for this morning for a very long time. Today my husband, Steve, and I fly to Maine with twelve inner city PAWkids students and six chaperones, sponsored by the non-profit formed in my friend's honor, Julie's Dream. What an unpredictable adventure! "Built on Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) conservation land and located at [...]
Good morning... Last night we experienced a feast of friendship as over twenty women in our Atlanta community gathered together, deepening down into the healthy root system connecting Bankhead and Buckhead. Women, older and younger. Skin, darker and lighter. People, barely surviving and ultimately thriving. Enjoying fun foods and delicious drinks, we shared stories of great struggle and [...]
