Good morning... Receiving this sympathy email from the church, our community's loss is formally announced. Sympathy Northside Church extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Cole McAfee Hagood, who passed away on Saturday, July 6, 2019. Memorial Service The Memorial Service will be at Northside Church in the Sanctuary on Friday, July 12, 2019 at 2:00 [...]
Good morning... "Dear Sue," she wrote after yesterday's post, A Special Kind Of Grief. "Today’s post is so powerful and important. Thank you for sharing these words from the mother who is grieving the loss of her son from overdose. She is so honest and raw and true. So many of us have family and close friends that [...]
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she wrote this week. "Wanted to let you know that your recent post and poem has helped a friend of mine in Jacksonville. He lost both his brother-in-law and nephew in two separate drug overdoses in a three week period. So much sadness — thanks for all you do for so many." She proceeded [...]
Good morning... "Sue, my mom passed away at 2:36 today peacefully and quickly," our dear friend Corinne Adams texted me at 11:08 pm on Saturday, June 8th. "It was time to rest. I can't wait to tell you about all the angels who showed up spontaneously...former caregivers, who were like family...they felt a call to come, not knowing...it [...]
Good morning... "Sad songs, they say so much," sings a lyric many of us know. Yet "sad" is relative and "saying so much" is important for every one of us. The music at yesterday's memorial service honoring J Schroeder, beloved 61-year-old husband and dad, son, brother, friend, was moving and meaningful. The following song invited us to quietly [...]
Good morning... Plan A seemed awesome. I was excited, grateful, anticipating wonderful. When Plan A gave way to Plan B, I was mildly disappointed but adapted pretty quickly. As Plan B crumbled into Plan C, the wind of joy left my sails, and I pep-talked myself into a new possibility. I lost it when Plan C unraveled into [...]
Good morning... From worm to harrow, from insect to iron, from the Bible verse that concluded yesterday's post on the evolution of our God-given-self, I did not know the meaning of the noun harrow. Harrow, as a verb, is more familiar to me. To actively harrow means to rob, ruin, ravage. To strip, spoil, severe. To destroy, devastate, demolish. When [...]
Good morning... As the plastic, pastel eggs are tucked away for next year and the last chocolate Easter bunnies are now at ninety percent off, I am brought back to the spring wisdom of When The Heart Waits. "There is a line from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins that speaks to me: 'Let him easter in us, be [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's post I was grateful to sense the fruits of God's Spirit growing early on my Easter Sunday branch, as I heeded Betty Skinner's wisdom: "The big 'I' must die." Twenty-four hours later, I realized my big "I" had not died, instead my big "I" was crouching inside, keeping score. Let me explain. Two minutes [...]
Good morning... I noticed Easter power rising in me twelve hours early. Let me explain just what I mean. At noon on Saturday, I sat on our couch folding load after load of warm, clean laundry. I had enjoyed a conversation with each of our two college-aged daughters home for the holiday weekend and our seventeen-year-old son who [...]
