Good morning... I love the rhythm of our Women's Ministry at Northside Church. We enjoy a fertile fall semester and a wonderful winter/spring semester, then, for the summer, we channel all of our study and our service opportunities into a few awesome options. Our weekly summer reading group begins at 10:00 am on Wednesday, June 3rd. Our first [...]
Good morning... Thirty-nine years ago, on Memorial Day weekend, Steve and I were married in my hometown of Berea, Ohio. This anniversary morning, we wake in Athens, Georgia, new grandparents to Charlie, who is a week and two days old. Our youngest daughter could not come to meet Charlie at the hospital, since she woke that day with [...]
Good morning... A line lingers from yesterday's post. "Looking out the window, we might ask: 'I’ve got to raise kids in this?'" Multiple wars. Gun violence. AI explosion. Financial worries. Racial injustice. Deadly disease. Deep deep division at home and abroad. God, I've got to raise kids in this? I met a poem this week which brings to [...]
Good morning... From all the loving texts and emails I have received since our first grandchild, Charlie, was born, one word of encouragement lingers. "How does the saying go?" a friend wrote. "There is nothing like a newborn to remind us that God has not given up on the human race. Charlie is the sweetest reminder. These are [...]
Good morning... I received a special package this week from our former exchange student from Norway. Margit lived with my biological family for a year when she was a junior in high school, my sister was in ninth grade, I was in seven grade, and my brother was in fifth grade. Margit became a soul sister and a [...]
Good morning... At Scott's Antique Market, I found this Mother's Day gift for my mom. I sent it with a card for her to hang on a doorknob in their senior living community in Ohio. The cross stitched treasure reminds me of the many handmade creations my mom made as gifts over the years. The words share a [...]
Good morning... "These words from Frederick Buechner captured me this morning…enjoy!" said the text from my friend. ****** Grace AFTER CENTURIES of handling and mishandling, most religious words have become so shopworn nobody's much interested anymore. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously, even derivatives like gracious and graceful still have some of the bloom left. Grace [...]
Good morning... This weekend's full moon passed quietly. With cloudy skies and thick overgrowth, inside me and around us, the power of God felt muted, present but subdued. This weekend, no one sent me gorgeous, glowing full moon photos, which people so often do. Grieving friends have lost loved [...]
Good morning... "I wanted to thank all of you who supported Eliza’s Entourage," wrote Cathy Darland, Eliza's grandmother and a beloved member of our Wednesday afternoon class. "This weekend we raised over $544,000 for Childhood Cancer research! It was an amazing evening! The night was very emotional, but our sweet Eliza was certainly the star of the show. [...]
Good morning... Tonight is a very special night for four-year-old Eliza. In front of an adoring crowd, she will walk the Rally Foundation Runway at the Georgia Aquarium. The Rally Foundation exists to fund the most promising research in the treatment of childhood cancers. "Eliza has requested that we all wear pink," said her grandmother, Cathy, who is [...]
