Good morning... The How Stuff Works website provides a creative answer to my brain's quirky question: "How does a tuning fork work?" The website explains, "The choir comes to a hush as the choirmaster steps into the room. 'All right, let's tune,' she declares to the assembled singers. Producing a two-pronged metal tool from her pocket, she strikes it [...]
Good morning... For me, this holiday season is officially over. With back to back birthdays for my husband and Jesus, December 24th and 25th, back to back birthdays for our two oldest kids, January 6th and 7th, and my high school senior's final PDC dance on January 9th, my holiday season is officially over. I love to look at [...]
Good morning... The man who had everything craved even more. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" demanded the rich, young ruler. Jesus replied in the man's achievement-oriented language, rattling off the famous checklist. "You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor [...]
Good morning... My son sends me his favorite sermons sometimes. This week he sent me the link to Matt Chandler's 5.27.07 sermon from The Village Church near Dallas, Texas. I found Chandler's wisdom to be very eye-opening, quite appropriate to consider as we end one year and begin another. Chandler challenges us: "Idolatry in your heart and in my [...]
Good morning... Yesterday as a family, we donned disposable hair nets with plastic aprons and gloves to assemble meals for the homeless through Hosea Feed the Hungry. For the first year of this annual Christmas tradition, I left feeling badly about the gift we had given. To me, the meals we served in styrofoam boxes felt unfair and inconsistent. [...]
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 [...]
