Good morning... I made a mistake. I hate being a mistake-maker. As soon as my error was revealed, I emailed a heartfelt apology. I went on with my late afternoon, to the bank, the grocery, the dry cleaners. Still the frustrating thought lingered, "My blunder inconvenienced people." I dropped off my son's car, picked up my husband, we enjoyed [...]
Good morning... In my book, I put a question mark by a new-to-me word. Evanescent. Do you know what "evanescent" means? I love to treasure hunt truth, so I get to googlin'. "Evanescent" means soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence. Quietly fading. Quickly fleeting. Brief. Short-lived. Vanishing. "Every person's life is lined with memories, keepsakes, habits, and [...]
Good morning... As we conspire, breathe together with God, our inside self and our outside self grow to become best friends. Connected. Congruent. In constant conversation with our Creator. No longer needed, our icy false self melts into God's warmth, watering the ground of our true "birthright" self. Connected. Congruent. In constant communication with our Creator. Who we are becoming [...]
Good morning... In one week this fall, I learned the root meaning of two key words. One Thursday morning, I learned: "anxiety" means "to choke." I get that. When I get anxious, I tighten up. I spiral down inwardly, constricting myself. I cut off my own air supply with obsessively anxious thoughts. The next Tuesday afternoon, I learned: "conspire" means [...]
Good morning... 2.18.2018. As I write the date in my journal, I notice the pretty pattern of today's numbers. This exact date has never been before. This exact date will never come again. Two. Eighteen. Two thousand and eighteen. We all wake to lives in flux. One of a kind. Imperfectly unique. We all wake today to lives in [...]
Good morning... This hurting world needs Our Special Endowment, the unique spiritual gift God has placed within each of us. Tucked inside the bulletin from our Women's Lenten Communion Service, we meet deep questions to help us discern: “GOD, WHAT AM I MADE FOR?” Focusing on these eight questions as we journey through the forty days of Lent, we [...]
Good morning... I slept well in the afterglow of the Women's Lenten Communion Service. Now quietly I sit and savor the Scriptures saturating last night's trip-fold bulletin. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, [that special endowment] which was intentionally bestowed on you [by the Holy Spirit]... Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely [...]
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, [...]
