Good morning... We had discussed driving together so she called to confirm plans. After talking a bit, she said, "I was thinking I would go, I'd like to go, but I'm not sure going would be the best use of my time." After tossing possibilities back and forth, back and forth, I said, "Okay. Why don't you take some [...]
Good morning... A soulmate subscriber, whom I have never met, sent me two quotes in response to my blog post yesterday. First she shared this truth: "Listening is the highest form of love." I adore this sentence! What wise encouragement. When we attentively listen we are actively loving. Next she quoted Bill Bullard: "Opinion is really the lowest form [...]
Good morning... Okay. So God did it again. Surround-sound is the Spirit's specialty. At 2:59 am, I posted yesterday's message highlighting the various seasons of life found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Then at 5:04 am, Henri Nouwen's 12.3.16 meditation arrived in my computer's inbox. Nouwen's words continue the Spirit's revelation: "There comes a time in all our lives when we [...]
Good morning... I will always remember one phrase shared in our young moms' class this semester: "I would rather be late than be yelling." I ponder the roots beneath the fruits of this statement. The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to clock time, time that can be measured in seconds and minutes, [...]
Good morning... Usually I am not a list maker. But yesterday when I happened upon a few open hours, I prayerfully doodled a list and happily discerned my most pressing "have to's." Bank. Grocery. Flower shop. Goodwill. UPS. Gas station. Check. Check. Check. Tons of important tasks delightfully accomplished. As a person who focuses much of my energy on [...]
Good morning... I had gotten really lax and lazy, neglecting the daily task of transferring my morning posts onto my "sue2you" website. Since I began writing again to you on September 1st, following our "Breathe God Everywhere" Summertime Devotional, I neglected this essential, everyday task, a task which allows subscribers to scroll through old messages collectively, catching up at [...]
Good morning... My husband and I are midwesterners who were both raised in "meat and potatoes" families. Though we have shifted toward fruits and veggies, salads and quinoa, fish and chicken, we still enjoy potatoes at many of our meals. Mashed or diced, sweet or russet, baked or boiled, potatoes appear on our dinner table regularly. As the primary [...]
Good morning... Once I laid eyes on the Message translation of Proverbs 2, my mind, my heart, and my soul fell deeply in love. Here is the heading above these verses: "Make Insight Your Priority." Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding. That’s right—if you make Insight your priority, and [...]
Good morning... We are told: "...problems and trials...they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation" (Romans 5:3-5, NLT). The one word shimmering for me now is salvation. So, I google "What is the root word for salvation?" In Latin "salvus" means whole and safe, healthy and uninjured, and [...]
Good morning... I learned lots of tantalizing tidbits as I read my two Spiritual Direction books. In passing, one set of authors wrote, "The next time you feel enthusiastic about something, remember that that word means literally 'God within' you" (p. 87 in Hagberg and Guelich's The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith). With my intrigue sparked, [...]
