Good morning... Up in the middle of night's darkness, I wonder, "God, where do we begin praying for loved ones facing death, divorce, depression?" I pull out a poem we received at this weekend's retreat at Ignatius House, and I whisper it out loud on behalf of all who are in pain, dear ones hurting deeply. ****** “Beloved [...]
Good morning... As the sun sets on summer, every August I am given the opportunity to speak in all three worship services at Northside Church. Northside is a welcoming place, offering two traditional services at 8:30 and 11:15 am and a contemporary service at 9:00 am, with a designated Sunday school hour for adults and for kids at [...]
Good morning... While on retreat Monday and Tuesday, we spread out into delightfully inviting guest rooms. One friend brought me into her room, and said, "Sue, look what's on my bedside table." Wow. It was The Circle of Love, a small, hardback book of meditations written by my spiritual mentor Betty Skinner. How dear. We just happened to [...]
Good morning... One of the women in our Thursday morning class recently had major surgery on her spine. She wrote us in early August: "Good Morning sweet Group! I cannot thank you enough for all the encouragement and prayer power that you have sent my way during this recovery period. I want to extend an invitation for a [...]
Good morning... "I love the image of Jesus’ outstretched hand ❤️," she wrote after yesterday's post. "Right now I have had some devastating weeks with complications after my cancer treatment. Slowly recovering and welcoming all medical and psychosocial support. 🙏 Been in hospital for 9 days surrounded by love and dedication. Love, Margit." You might remember Margit, my [...]
Good morning... She simply wrote: "You will love this!" and shared the following story a lonely, little boy who is growing a community. I do love it, and so will you. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaoWZybEYR-/ Each of us must strive to please our neighbors, pursuing their welfare so they will become strong (Romans 15:2, VOICE). ...Sue... [...]
Good morning... I met a best friend over the coffee pot at Northside Church in 2003. In kindness, she reached out to me yesterday morning. Keenly aware of the tragedy I described last week in our post She Died Unexpectedly, my dear friend texted, "Hey I was thinking about you last night and this morning and I assume [...]
Good morning... This summer, our Northside Church family is making 200 bagged lunches on Mondays and 200 bagged lunches on Wednesdays and taking them to PAWkids to share with our friends in the Grove Park neighborhood. For three Mondays in a row, I have joined in the fun, tangibly connecting with my two favorite non-profit organizations. [...]
Good morning... This is one of my favorite pictures of Charlie, our first grandchild. His official name is Charles Shepherd Allen, and Charles means "free man." This name matters a lot to our family, because Charles (Charlie), like all of us, is born into the freedom Jesus Christ purchased on the cross, once and for all. Christ has [...]
Good morning... A friend just happened to send me this happy yellow saying on the morning our first grandson visited our home for the first time. I witnessed this enduring truth in action. Charlie is being smiled into smiling, loved into loving and eventually he will be talked into talking and sung into singing. [...]
