Good morning... As we gathered in the Northside Church chapel last night, we experienced the thin veil between the seen and the unseen. "Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever," explains 1 Corinthians 15:42b (NLT). The sacred chapel space was filled with the inviting harmonies of [...]
Good morning... Last Sunday was All Saints' Day, and, in every worship service at Northside Church, we celebrated the souls of loved ones in our congregation who died in the past year. A bell was rung in their honor and family and friends stood for a moment of remembrance. Last year on All Saints' Day, the soul of [...]
Good morning... As our Fab Five friend group was planning our lunch for this afternoon, Jennifer DeShetler wrote: "Sue, has anyone forwarded you Ben's Facebook post?" I answered, "No. Please send it on. I always love what both of you write." Jennifer shared with me the loving words Ben wrote yesterday about their daughter Audrey, who went to [...]
Good morning... Our 25 year old borrowed my car last week to drive with his girlfriend down to Jacksonville, Florida. They were going to a funeral for a friend. Most 25 year olds in this generation have been to way too many funerals, funerals celebrating the life of a young friend or family member that they have loved [...]
Good morning... The eternal life of two faithful women have passed through to the other side. Dictionary.com explains: "A matriarch is the female head of a family, tribe, clan, or organization, or a respected and influential senior woman." This month, Northside Church is missing from our midst two gifted matriarchs. On October 11th, we celebrated the 88 vibrant [...]
Good morning... Last Wednesday, Bonnie returned to our afternoon class after years of being a loyal member. She certainly had a difficult story to tell and a deep need for the prayers of our group. Bonnie told us the long version of her mother's situation. Two Sundays ago, Bonnie's 83 year old mom, Patricia, fell at the Sandy [...]
Good morning... Yesterday afternoon, we happily gathered for our first monthly class of this new semester. Amidst our great discussion, we read aloud from page 24 in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson. "...one motif occurs again and again," wrote Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. "A traveler loses his way in the forest; it it [...]
Good morning... On Saturday, I received a text from my dad in Ohio: "I received a message from Ingar (Margit's son). He said that Margit passed away this morning. She passed peacefully surrounded by family." She passed away at her home in Norway, pictured above in April of 2020. Margit spent a year with our family as a [...]
Good morning... Twenty-five years ago, our son Jeremiah was born on June 5th in Atlanta, Georgia. Two weeks later, our family was transplanted to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania with our youngest and his siblings ages 2, 4, and 6. Three months later, the terrorist attacks of September 11th shocked our nation. At the time, Jeremiah was the same age [...]
Good morning... In the morning, I took a walk through the fertile forest of fallen trees. I told you in yesterday's post, "New forms of life were sprouting up everywhere!" In the afternoon, we gathered for our session in The Upper Room, the amazing new building on the campus of the Ignatius House Retreat Center. Our retreat leaders [...]
