Good morning... On this All Saints' Day weekend, when we honor the lives of those who have left earth for heaven, I sat on the back porch of a friend whose husband passed away eight weeks ago. We marveled at how quickly time has passed and how slowly, surely God's peaceful strength has built a home within her. [...]
Good morning... I got news this weekend of a cancer diagnosis in the families of two friends - one, a brave 36 year old daughter, and the other, a nearly 90 year old mother who is so dearly loved. Pondering the precarious balance between life and death, I am drawn to a poem I met a while back. [...]
Good morning... Queen Elizabeth II. Hurricane Fiona victims. Ukrainians and Russians killed in senseless war. Floods in central Italy. An earthquake in Taiwan. Wildfires blaze wildly out west. Gun violence steals lives across our nation. So many friends have recently lost loved ones to disease, to cancer, to addiction, to suicide, to overpowering riptide currents. It seems that [...]
Good morning... Tonight's full moon lights the dignity of the dying roses centered on our kitchen table. I sift through yesterday's ashes to give breath to eternal embers. First my waking heart wrote these words on my blank journal page. Is it enough to root and bloom, to thrive and share love, to live daily life the best [...]
Good morning... "Campfire..." one reader began her follow up email. "A theme used to celebrate the life of my Tia Sue. She was my dad's sister, who I was very close to. I may be going in a different direction with the campfire idea, but the poem really spoke to me, which is why I shared your recent [...]
Good morning... Sharing honestly from her heart, she texted. "With respect to this week, frankly, it is hard. The days just are hard. Things are hard in this chapter. I know that God will give me the strength I need," she continued. "I know that this will work together for something I don't yet understand. Right now though, [...]
Good morning... One week ago today, we began our Zoom study sharing hard news. The son from a family close to many in our community was found dead the day before. As a summer study group, we stopped right away and lifted a deep prayer for the family and friends whose ordinary lives will never be the same. [...]
Good morning... One week ago today . . . . . . "Nineteen kids came romping up the golden staircase, taking two steps at a time, sprinting toward the mother-of-pearl gates," writes beloved blogger Sean Dietrich. "It’s a wonder they didn’t knock Saint Peter over onto his Blessed Assurance. The children all smelled like little-kid sweat and stinky [...]
Good morning... With last weekend's wedding in Charleston, S.C., my friend and I enjoyed sight-seeing through the southern city. The history of our pain, our progress, and our potential as a nation comes to life on every street. We reverently visited the church where 9 people were killed by a gunman while gathering for Bible study on June [...]
Good morning... As our son and a full row of twenty-year-old friends watched their classmates paying tribute at their best friend's funeral, I wondered to myself, "Lord, in what ways is your Spirit sinking into their hearts? How are you helping these young adults to process this unexpected loss? Somehow, some way, is your comforting presence becoming more [...]
