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 [...]
Good morning... I opened my inbox to discover this email. "Dear Friends, We hope this letter finds you well. We're writing to bring you up to speed on some major life events that are occurring with us. After many fulfilling years together we have come to a place where we are moving in different directions and have decided to [...]
Good morning... With some people, it feels like a sin to "ask." Asking a question is like challenging authority. Asking for clarification means you are a bother. Asking about options can complicate matters and prolong a decision. With some people, asking for anything cracks the surface of their status quo and anger oozes out, messy and mean. This weekend, [...]
Good morning... I bend my own 4:00 am rule and begin brewing my morning coffee at 2:40 today. "It's Mother's Day," I figure, "and my gift to myself will be an afternoon nap." I love savoring these quiet, creative hours in the middle of the night, when God invites me close. At 7:30 am, I will walk to and [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, three of us were talking about different types of wake up calls. One preschool mom said, "When my son wakes up each morning, he calls in a sing-songy voice, 'Hellooo... It's meee...'" The other mom of adult children said, "Whenever my daughter woke up as a little girl, she would loudly yell 'Juice!' 'Juice!' 'Juice!' or [...]
