Good morning... My husband, Rev. Steve Allen, shared a life-giving message during Tuesday's memorial service, honoring another deeply missed dad in our close-knit community. Steve chose to read what seemed like an "odd" Scripture for a funeral, at first glance. Aloud he read: Jesus said to one who had invited him to a dinner, "When you give a luncheon, [...]
Good morning... At Tuesday's memorial service, two dearly loved daughters stepped up to the microphone. One recounted a string of incredible memories of a passionate dad who held nothing back, loving freely and fully, each day of his life. The other daughter read aloud the following poem, allowing us all to feel the power of deep love living [...]
Good morning... On the morning when another family in our community will host a memorial service for a beloved husband, father, friend, I return to the illusive promise eluded to in yesterday's post. On this one-of-a-kind day, how can the joy of the Lord be our strength? And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods [...]
Good morning... Around 5:45 pm last night, I snapped a picture of a friend's house as I drove by. "Passing your home," I stopped briefly to include the photo as I texted our group of five friends. "When might we get together next?" How could I have known my text would set off such an explosion of life? [...]
Good morning... The old wooden pews were nicely filled. After saying "Hello" to a handful of friendly, familiar faces, I was escorted to the front of the church, to a velvety antique chair just behind the pulpit. "Oh no," my heart sank. I thought I would be non-conspicuously sitting with the church family until it was my time [...]
Good morning... Last night I enjoyed a very special dinner. I slid into my seat with a private tableful of women, three I knew mildly, four I had never met. These longtime friends asked me to join them as they discussed how to help their teenage daughters process a time of deep loss and great grief. Another family [...]
Good morning... "Sue, my dear friend," he wrote, "this weekend I hope everyone will take three minutes to remember the hundreds of thousands of Americans who died on battlefields across the globe over the years in places like Belleau Wood, the beaches of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, the sands of Iwo Jima, and the meat grinder [...]
Good morning... "Sue, I love this message - and it’s a lesson I’ve gradually learned this past year hosting a weekly Bible study in my home for the first time," one of you wrote after our Monday post, Welcome To Our Messy Home. She noticed her change of heart: "For the first meeting back in September, I made [...]
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 [...]
