Good morning... Some losses are excruciating. Life seems to be running smoothly. Hopes and dreams are gelling. We are savoring a sense of settled satisfaction. Then WHAM! Life falls apart. Near perfection unravels. The daily drive keeping us alive ends abruptly, unexpectedly. How do we rise up from bed the morning after? How do we rise up to face [...]
Good morning... Through Northside Church, we feed tons of homeless men, women, and children throughout Atlanta each Super Bowl Sunday. Today at the church, volunteer men, women, and children will make hundreds and hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from donated ingredients. Between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, generous men, women, and children will drop off the gallons [...]
Good morning... I read this Bible story aloud to our Listening Group. The well that Jacob had dug was still there, and Jesus sat down beside it because he was tired from traveling. It was noon, and after Jesus' disciples had gone into town to buy some food, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well. Jesus [...]
Good morning... Sometimes we live too up-close to people. We hang on the bumper of our loved ones, directing. We hang on the bumper of our enemies, raging. Enmeshed, we try to fix, save, change each other. Tailgating, we engender co-dependency, locked in an intensely emotional form of loving and hating. Given a slight break in life's bumper to [...]
Good morning... “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’" explains Jesus in Matthew 5:43-44a (NIV). "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." At age 39, Martin Luther King Jr. was maturing as a 'child of [...]
Good morning... Before lighting candles and singing "Silent Night" to end the sacred Christmas Eve service, our church family was invited to take communion. We were reminded that, at his final earthly meal, the grown up baby Jesus took bread and blessed it, broke it and said, "This is my body, broken for you. Take and eat." Likewise, he [...]
Good morning... If I sat behind your car at a red light, content with my 'Listener' license plate, I might discover these words inviting me from your personalized plate into the center of your soul. 'Caregiver.' 'Hopeful.' 'Mother.' 'Loving.' 'Teacher.' 'Sunshine.' 'Mover.' 'Quiet.' 'Saved.' 'Learner.' 'Sensitive.' 'Encourager.' 'Encourager.' 'Encourager.' 'Encourager.' One of you wrote, "Before children, my word was [...]
Happy Thanksgiving morn... You simply must give yourself at least a few-second-gift of this peaceful video passed along to me by a dear, wise friend. https://www.google.com/search?q=hamster+eating+carrot+in+blanket&rlz=1CDGOYI_ enUS711US711&oq=hamster+eating+carrot+in+blanket&aqs=chrome..69i57.15735j0j9&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 If this hamster could speak english, she might encourage us this day, "Hold with your two bare hands the slice of life given to you today. Remember you are blanketed in God's [...]
Good morning... As she nestled into the monastery for a weekend retreat, my friend read these framed words on the wall. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation and be notorious. - Rumi By nature, she plays it safe. She heeds the warning signs of her fears. Her reputation has taken a long time to [...]
Good morning... "You're a good, good Father. It's who You. It's who You are. It's who You are." "And I'm loved by You. It's who I am. It's who I am. It's who I am." "You are perfect in all of Your ways. You are perfect in of Your ways. You are perfect in all of Your ways, O [...]
