Good morning... I woke up yesterday to a text from one of you: Right away I responded, with the fresh memory of our UGLY "crazy" popping out on Easter morning: "Thanks! You too. Hoping for less of a Mother's Day meltdown. How about you? Ours has begun well, but it's only 10:00 am. Enjoy your imperfectly rainy day." [...]
Good morning... "My dear Sue," she wrote. "I did not respond to your 'crazy' message as I was proudly basking in the light of a perfectly celebrated Easter weekend with our children and grandchildren. I was quickly brought back to reality when I received a text from our daughter blaming me for her daughter being sick at school [...]
Good morning... Seems yesterday's post, My "Crazy" Popped Out, pierced a nerve. Just listen to the emails gushing the blood of our human nature. "Your message is one I need to hear over and over again as I go through different seasons with my husband, our boys, our daughters-in-law, and our grandkids. It's a constant struggle to refrain [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's post I was grateful to sense the fruits of God's Spirit growing early on my Easter Sunday branch, as I heeded Betty Skinner's wisdom: "The big 'I' must die." Twenty-four hours later, I realized my big "I" had not died, instead my big "I" was crouching inside, keeping score. Let me explain. Two minutes [...]
Good morning... Whatever life phase surrounds us right now, this day and each day is distilled down to two simple tasks. Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well [...]
Good morning... "I love love love today’s reading!" she wrote after yesterday's post. "My Mom was named Rosemary and we lost her in Jan 2018. At her service we wore sprigs of Rosemary on our dresses/shirts! I guess my Aunt knew the significance as I did not. Just this last March we took her ashes to Wilmington NC [...]
Good morning... Opening time and space in these first wee hours, I wait for God to whisper. Who knows what will bubble up and spill on my journal? As I wait, quietly attentive, I strangely feel drawn to doodle. I doodle my memory of 93-year-old Betty Skinner's room in her assisted living facility in Florida. I sketch her [...]
Good morning... This morning in extra measure my soul lifts loving prayers for 93-year-old Betty Skinner. Today she and loved ones will lay to rest Bryant B. Skinner, Sr., a lifelong resident of Jacksonville, Florida, who died on March 10, 2019 at the age of 96. As Bryant's obituary reads: "He married Betty Walthour of Birmingham, AL, in 1948. They [...]
Good morning... The sun rises today to host a funeral for a father. Let me tell you of the days leading up to this morning. Our 17-year-old son brought a good friend with us on spring break in Florida, and on the second evening of our vacation this friend got a call from his mother in Atlanta. The [...]
Good morning... "I appreciate your efforts in presenting the 'Living Fully - Dying Well' series," she emailed me after we finished our six-week series on peacefully attending to various facets of the final season of life. On the last week we each brought symbols of loved ones who have gone ahead of us to heaven. A funny bow [...]
