Good morning... When I was a little girl growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, I remember a regular summertime ritual. I would make myself a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and enjoy a private picnic, perched on a mossy patch between two bushes, beside a tiny ditch of trickling water. I would daydream and dawdle. Looking. Listening. Lounging. Fresh air [...]
Good morning... Scary feelings. Scattered thoughts. Struggles strangle. We are overwhelmed. Too many needs. Too many options. Too many expectations. We are overwhelmed. Difficult decisions. Demanding deadlines. Depression descends. We are overwhelmed. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7, NIV). But God is invisible and God does not talk like us and God [...]
Good morning... Overflowing black liquid. Sizzling burnt smell. Mess moving across our kitchen counter. The new coffee pot our kids bought for me this summer was "acting out" terribly. "Did you read the directions?" our wise daughter asked. "Of course not," I thought. "A coffee pot is a coffee pot. I know how to work a coffee pot." Fortunately, [...]
Good morning... "Many voices ask for our attention," whispers Henri Nouwen's 1.13.18 morning meditation. "There is a voice that says, 'Prove that you are a good person.' Another voice says, 'You'd better be ashamed of yourself.' There is also a voice that says, 'Nobody really cares about you,' and one that says, 'Be sure to become successful, popular, and [...]
Good morning... A few days ago I posted Prayer Is Free Time With God, writing: "A momma bird and her young one capture my attention. Her wide wings fly beneath, guiding, guarding, giving confident trust. The individuating creature flaps a unique set of wings. I sense: 'No one can fly for us, we must engage our whole self.'" "You fully [...]
Good morning... Today, I could write about football, yesterday's rainy day off school, or our daughter's safe return from Australia with her tattered, three-wheeled suitcase. This morning, I could write about our finicky coffee pot, this week's beginning of our new class semester, or the strengthening pull of God's call upon my life. Right now, I could write about [...]
Good morning... "I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about - quite apart from what I would like it to be about - or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions," writes Parker Palmer, author of the book we will be digesting and [...]
Good morning... As I wake, an old song wells up within my soul and I marinate in a tried, true favorite performed live in 2007. Though I do not know what language is being translated in this YouTube video, I love the foreign subtitles and the clearly-moved crowd visually reminding me: God's Word lights the path for every person [...]
Good morning... A prayer grows roots deep in my soul. "LORD, You are the Director. Help me be a clear reflector." I envision a still lake reflecting the pink-purple pastels painted by the rising sun and the old oak trees silhouetted by the same sun as it sets. The more still the water, the more clear the moving reflection. [...]
Good morning... "I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths," begins the devotional my friend texted me in a screenshot on the day she received her difficult news. "I know how confused you sometimes feel - and how you long to find your way forward. You have tried many different things; you have [...]
