Good morning... Before we gathered to create one hundred Christmas gift bags for the police officers to deliver to the senior citizens in the Grove Park neighborhood of our city, LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids, said, "Sue, I would love for you to include Bible verses in every bag." So I was gifted with the joy [...]
Good morning... At our annual Turkey Bowl, the welcome is wide, the laughter is contagious and the score always ends in a tie. Returning home to cook turkey and fixin's, I received an email responding to our Thanksgiving blog post. Early in the morning, as a written word community, we had experienced this prayer, a prayer written by [...]
Good morning... From a centered place of comfort, before any family members stir awake, I revisit three cell phone photos and a soulful prayer. Connecting these diverse dots from this unique week, I capture a glimpse of God's love growing among us. The first photo, a hammock resting on an autumn afternoon, breathes peace within our soul. We [...]
Good morning... "Can you pray for me?" she texted. "I talked to her kindly from my heart, but she did not take it well. She's not talking to me. She said she can't say anything right now. I know I have to give her space but it's hard, because I love and care about her. All I can [...]
Good morning... A group of us from our extended church family have been widening our sense of community as we go to PAWkids on Monday afternoons to help young students with their homework, one-on-one. When I read Nouwen's meditation yesterday morning, my soul nodded in agreement before jumping with joy. ****** DAILY MEDITATION | NOVEMBER 18, 2021 - [...]
Good morning... Men and women, black and white, younger and older, we unpack our mixed feelings in our therapeutic community group each Tuesday morning at PAWkids. Last week we were each deeply touched by a film clip from the 2017 movie Wonder. "Why am I so ugly?" the tearful boy asks. "Honey, listen. We all have marks on [...]
Good morning... I just woke from a dream, short and intriguing. My husband had forgotten to tell me that there was a large plastic container in our backyard with a huge pile of leaves beside it. He had spent hours raking the leaves in our yard, and he expected me to somehow transfer the leaves into this big [...]
Good morning... In our Friday study, we read these words aloud from Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives For Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton. Recently I spent time with our daughter's soccer team at the beginning of a practice devoted to watching game films. We discussed the importance of game films and how it gives them an opportunity [...]
Good morning... "Now with the Awake To Wholeness retreat behind us, might we celebrate your birthday season?" I texted a friend. (As I reflect, I realize that "behind" is the wrong word. It is more accurate to say, "Now with the retreat inside us, might we celebrate?") "And . . . I thoroughly enjoyed retelling the Saturday experience [...]
Good morning... Looking back over our weekend, so many multifaceted gifts were unwrapped at our Awake To Wholeness Women's Retreat. Musical meditations. Wise "Aha!" moments. For some of us, tenderizing tears. One tiny tangible gift was tied inside each napkin given with our yummy boxed lunches. A young girl from the church had hand-painted for each participant a [...]
