Good morning... God's timing is interesting. During this tremendously difficult week, "Dark Emotions" is the name of the chapter we are discussing in Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. Dark emotions. Fear. Despair. Sadness. We don't like them. In their presence, our natural tendency is to run and hide. Avoid. Deny. Yet Barbara encourages [...]
Good morning... I have been praying really deeply for loved ones who are facing excruciating challenges. Praying for the promised power of God to rise up and buoy, to strengthen and empower. Many of you have been joining me on this quest, seeking to pray into existence the power of God on behalf of our loved ones. Yesterday, [...]
Good morning... Thoroughly enjoying our final Monday class, we read aloud some of our favorite passages from The Other Side of Chaos by Margaret Silf. The fourteenth chapter is entitled Yesterday Is Already Ours. This enduring truth - yesterday is already ours - is embedded in us as we walk away from a transformative season together. Now let's [...]
Good morning... "It's been a hard week" is the title of the most recent blog post shared by our good friend's daughter-in-law, 37-year-old Elizabeth, who is journeying through treatment for advanced colon cancer. Harsh side effects from her chemo regimen are painful and pervasive. One of their three kids had strep on Christmas Eve. Their Christmas Eve service [...]
Good morning... I have never met 37-year-old Elizabeth who is bravely battling colon cancer, but I absolutely love the way God's Holy Spirit is pouring through her to saturate the hearts of many. This week in her powerful post Elizabeth wrote life-giving words. ****** Don't you love my seesaw illustration that I made on my phone? Messy touchscreen [...]
Good morning... Does this ever happen to you? At the 11th hour, I always want to stay home. As my fears swirl wildly in the final hours, I crave my familiar comfort zone. I just want to hunker down in my own happy place. I have been waiting to go to on an adult trip to Israel with [...]
Good morning... Bonding with our therapeutic small group at PAWkids this week, we were asked to fill in a handful of blanks, completing a series of sentences. One man's answers to two self-reflective questions captured my attention. My best friend ___________________. He answered: "God." I am afraid of ____________________. He answered: "God." I can totally relate to this [...]
Good morning... As God continues our ongoing conversation about walking barefoot through deep grief, courageously facing painful challenges, and trusting that we were each made for more than breathing, I am drawn to a song by Ginny Owen. Regular readers of our everyday blog will remember that Ginny is a talented singer who mysteriously went blind at age [...]
Good morning... I have never understood the phrase fear of the Lord. It seems like such an oxymoron to fear a God who loves us unconditionally, beyond our wildest imagination. The things we fear we usually stay away from, so why does Proverbs 1:7 make it clear that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge? [...]
Good morning... "I'm afraid God," I reread my handwriting in yesterday's journal pages. "I finally deepen down to feel my fear. I am afraid of not listening well enough to be Your scribe for a class of seventy-plus women awaiting this week's study segments. I fear that, for sake of timeliness, maybe these words will become my concoction [...]
