Good morning... I wake to the special email below, reminding me of this week's Holiday Gathering. Whimsical. Welcoming. The invitation quietly whispers, "Get ready for a wonderful evening." God and I have been diligently discerning fresh wisdom to share with the down-to-earth women of our community. If you are free on Thursday night, please consider joining us as [...]
Good morning... Each time I walk our dogs, I pass by these two trees. One tree bears a sign with the name and the face of a three year old Israeli girl who was kidnapped by Hamas. Another tree shares the name and the face of a seventy-seven year old hostage. I am grateful for a compassionate neighbor [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I snap a photo of the sign that greeted me yesterday as I settled into my parents' villa at their senior living community in Olmsted Township, Ohio. This sign makes me smile. A simple, handcrafted warm welcome. Susie, my nickname growing up. My mother's always beautiful handwriting. The kind [...]
Good morning... As I wake in the dark of this night, I notice three unique things. The heat has kicked on, as temperatures drop. The wind chimes are going wild, as the breeze picks up. And my mind is flooded with prayers for my friend, as she prepares to lay her husband to final rest today. Then I [...]
Good morning... Now that our kids are grown, I love generating joy with other children. This Halloween morning would feel so different for me without the fun memories made yesterday. There are moments when I waste the time gifted to me. Selfish. Ho-hum. Disconnected. [...]
Good morning... During last night's Fall Festival at Northside Church, I sensed our shared experience tipping toward the holidays. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. It is hard to imagine. Just two short month from today, we will wake up on the morning after Christmas 2023. An important question lifts her head and opens her big brown eyes: "How might I [...]
Good morning... I love this image from Kate Bowler's devotional for the week. The picture gently holds hands with title of her email. "Joy is the oxygen for doing hard things." This subject line is a quote from Gary Haugen who runs International Justice Mission, "a non-profit organization committed to liberating vulnerable individuals from the clutches of modern [...]
Good morning... While nursing a partial tear in her ACL, our dog Tate chased after a squirrel, yelped really loud, fell to the ground, laid down for a long while, lame. That night we let Tate sleep outside for potty purposes. In solidarity, in case she needed help, I slept under a blanket on our outdoor couch beneath [...]
Good morning... My mom returned home to their independent living villa in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. For nearly a month she slept away from my dad, from hospital stay, through surgery, ICU, colostomy bag, to recovery at the skilled nursing center at their senior living community. Yesterday my mom settled into her favorite chair, grateful and content. My sister [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I tried to write a message about the life-altering week of my friend LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids. After hours of crafting and re-crafting, the message oddly zapped away. Twice. The words and images, touched by some human error of mine, simply evaporated. Twice. So, I gave [...]
