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... "You are definitely a back door person," he said as I left the party last night. "Most everyone else came through the front door, but not you, you are a back door person. You should write a blog about that." I went out the door and down the back stairs, jumped in my car and drove straight [...]
Good morning... After a meaningful walk-and-talk with a longtime friend, God's truth became clear. I need to say "no" to an awesome opportunity, an opportunity to which I would love to say "yes". With her family just a bit ahead of ours on life's journey, my wise friend simply said, "Remember, you have another season after this one." Pondering [...]
Good morning... Yesterday was the first Thanksgiving their loved one was not physically present at their earthly feast, having crossed over to heaven last spring. In a brand new way, this grieving family is making mashed potatoes. As I listened to his mourning mom talk about the conversations around their dinner table this fall, she said, "I have grown [...]
Good morning... “The accumulated sorrows of your exile (your being barred from comfort, your being kept from closeness, your inability to feel completely at home) will dissipate,” whispers the LORD through the pen of an Old Testament prophet. Zephaniah 3:19-20 in the Message translation continues: “I, your God, will get rid of them, your sorrows, for you. You’ve carried [...]
Good morning... As I wrote a reminder email to my Tuesday class yesterday morning, I included the following quote from this week's chapter. In the afternoon, we settled into my living room. We shared thoughts and learned collaboratively. As we talked candidly about the things that get in the way of our whole hearted living, we read these words [...]
Good morning... Sharing the devastating effects of an extramarital affair, heartbroken and hurting she wrote to me for support: "My 16-year-old niece said, 'Who will walk me down the aisle when I get married? I don't want someone who cheated doing it.'" The LORD gave me these words to give to my friend: "Your niece could walk down the [...]
Good morning... This Memorial Day morn, I think of my grandparent's generation, a generation which was heavy laden with the effects of war. Just yesterday, I was reading one of my old journals entries dated August 27, 2005. Back then I wrote these words. "I'm drawn to the note attached to the quilt that covers the old oak rocker [...]
Good morning... Regrets ruin. The unsaid undermines. When the moment is lost, so is the opportunity. As spring fades to summer, my unsaid regrets linger. I have lost an opportunity. I feel convicted to say "I am sorry" for two things this spring. First, in March, I went on two spring break trips back to back. One week to [...]
Good morning... Twenty-nine years ago today, I woke up in Ohio on my wedding day. Excitement and nerves. Family and friends. Fears and hopes. I woke to it all. I remember getting my hair done after taking a mid-morning nap, being surrounded by the special people who had influenced my first twenty-four years, and soaking up hugs and good [...]
