Good morning... "I'll have a Blue Christmas without you," Elvis Presley sang into our hearts with his 1964 single, the year after I was born. As I have aged into deeper awareness, I wonder, "When people lose loved ones during the holiday season, is Christmas always tainted with the blue of grief?" Something within me feels an answer [...]
Good morning... "What is essential is invisible," whispered yesterday's post. We wake to a time of visible unrest. Hurricane devastation. Senseless violence. Political bullying. As the world looks out-of-sorts, God remains the same. Today and every day, how might we invest in the invisible? Love. Roots. Trust. Hope. Spirit. God's Word. Faith. Senses. The living Christ. When we [...]
Good morning... Life carves us down, life carves us down deep. Just scroll back through our past five posts. A cancer-free seven year old now safe in Jesus' arms. An eighteen year old breathing freely in heaven after a lifetime altered by Cystic Fibrosis. A twenty-seven year old wife and mom whose dream life was stolen by a [...]
Good morning... I read aloud to the classes in our living room two poignant pages from Paula D'Arcy's most well-known book, Gift of The Red Bird, two pages that describe one life altering day. Paula and her husband Roy were enjoying a simple life with their first toddling daughter Sarah when we pick up their story. ****** Gift [...]
Good morning... Wow. Yesterday I learned a startling truth: the word "biopsy" is not benign. Benign means good and mild, gentle and kind, tender and harmless. I know the word "biopsy" is not benign, because it caused a fearful stir. I quoted Erwin Raphael McManus in my post yesterday, a post entitled 911 Moments Form Our Faith. McManus [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, September 10th, was the first anniversary of a very significant loss. Loved ones leaned in, joined together, and shared love. Today, September 11th, is the seventeenth anniversary of another devastating loss. Our nation leans in, joins together, and resists hate. I am reminded of the life altering effects of 9/11/01 as I read these words written [...]
Good morning... Just before preparing last night's family dinner, I turned in the manuscript for our 2018 Summertime Devotional. After hours and hours and still more and more hours, the passionate patchwork of our ninety-two favorite blog posts from this school year was sent as a cozy, completed quilt to the Creative Arts Director at Northside Church. She will [...]
Good morning... My most recent daily blog post was sent out four days ago. Then I hit a computer snag and sent you an email entitled: "Technical Difficulties - Will Return When Fixed." Over the years, I have grown to believe that computer snags and technical difficulties often occur when God is fighting to get our attention. For our struggle [...]
Good morning... Inside the funeral bulletin silently rested a powerful insert. I have returned to the words again and again, intrigued by their challenge. ****** Excerpt from The Tree of Life by Terrance Malick Job imagined he might build his nest on high - that the integrity of his behavior would protect him against misfortune. And his friends thought, [...]
Good morning... "Breath prayers" quiet our buzzing thoughts, thoughts swarming like mosquitos in the mayhem of our mind. After reading this wisdom in yesterday's post, she wrote: "Thank you for this lesson. I guide my yoga class with what I like to call 'sacred breath' and so appreciate your mantras. It's helpful to have concise thoughts - even just two [...]
