Good morning... Many of us could relate to yesterday's post, I've Broken A Lot. We are all gloriously, terribly broken, and oh, it's so beautiful to see it, the love in everything. "We are all so blessed that God doesn’t leave us in our broken state🙏🏻♥️," quickly came the first response. A few minutes later, another reader wrote: [...]
Good morning... As the sun rises on this new day, there are layers and layers of crowded needs. Where do we begin? We deepen into a poem which has guided the lives of many for over a decade. ****** The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman from Bread for the Preacher, Dec. 2009 When the song of the [...]
Good morning... "Your greatest gift is not your gifts, but your surrendered yes to be a space for God," writes Ann Voskamp in The Greatest Gift. "The miscarriage of Christmas begins when anxieties crowd out the space within simply to carry Christ. Make room; be a womb. Be a womb to receive Christ everywhere, and it is He [...]
Good morning... "This kind of ‘says it all’," a friend wrote this week. "...my wishes for you and all those I love!" ****** December's Gentle Grace by Etheric Echoes This holiday season, I'm wishing for the kind of wealth that money could never buy - the gentle peace of a quiet mind, the warmth of laughter echoing through [...]
Good morning... My 86 year old mom has endured a series of falls, several surgeries, and nearly three years of slow recovery. One thing she loves is cards, cards that make her laugh. Freely displaying these clever treasures all around their villa, she is surrounded by tangible symbols of the lasting love of family and friends. This is [...]
Good morning... With my parents in the performance of the Holiday Choir at their senior living community, this was a good long weekend to come to Ohio for a visit. Sunday was a full day. Church. Kiwanis pancake breakfast with Santa and our extended family. Creating their Christmas card. Getting out ornaments for their live tree. Quality time [...]
Good morning... "I want to share this tune written by my nephew, which was released yesterday," a friend wrote on Saturday. "He's a father of three neat kids (15, 17, 20) and recently divorced. He's reflecting on his hope that his kids know that the time they spend together outweighs any of the mundane daily 'stuff.' Definitely comes [...]
Good morning... The notification of her Gratitude Gift unexpectedly arrived. "Thank you for all the wisdom you have shared all these years!" she added in her note. "Beautiful! Merry Christmas!" Her kind gift spurred me to remind you that, in order to bring to you our free daily blog, we depend on your financial support. If you feel [...]
Good morning... Yesterday my friend and I went to see the movie Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, a theologian, and an anti-Nazi dissident who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 just two weeks before the war ended. Chronicled in his many books and expressed in his heroic actions, Bonhoeffer's life of faith was extraordinary. [...]
Good morning... Refocusing my scattered attention, a friend sent me his favorite Christmas poems. Here is one for us to enjoy today, accompanied by the wisdom of Scripture, amplified with an uplifting song. ****** I Will Light Candles from The Mood of Christmas by Howard Thurman I will light Candles this Christmas, Candles of joy despite all the sadness, [...]
