Good morning... As I sit on my back porch at this time of the year, I see the color of new growth bursting on bare branches. Now and forever, I will call this light, bright color “Julie Green.” One year ago today, 42-year-old Julie Harlan died, a loving wife and mother, a loyal daughter and sister, a long-time friend [...]
Good morning... To commemorate Good Friday, we consider deeply the death of Christ captured in Mark 15:33-39 (NIV). At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When [...]
Good morning... The Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday. Christ's final "mandate" is commemorated today, with "maundy" being a shortened form of the Latin word "mandatum," which means "command." What command or mandate is so important to Jesus that it is given its own special day in the church year? At Thursday's Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus says: "A new [...]
Good morning... The night we first met, I sat next to her at dinner. Fragile feeling. Truth-tellers. Something we said sparked her soul to recite for me a poem: "Even if I don't see it again - nor ever feel it," words from her heart came soft and sure. "I know it is - and that if once it hailed [...]
Good morning... As I stir from sleep, one phrase fills my focus: "Unlimited Possibilities." Though I took tons and tons of notes during our two-day retreat, on the tip of my brain's tongue, this morning after, rest two distinct words: "Unlimited Possibilities." Unlocked by this one two-word phrase, biblical promises begin bubbling up from my gut, through my heart, [...]
Good morning... As a class, we found Parker Palmer's insights very, very convicting. We all love people who experience seasons of suffering. We all want to help people out of their pain. Yet, when Parker was "in his misery," loved ones came to offer "sympathy that led him deeper into despair." Experience this excerpt from Let Your Life Speak [...]
Good morning... As the Holy Spirit slows down our pace, we pause and look left. Where were we when the God's glitches began wreaking havoc? Together we were diving deep into the valley of depression. After a rash of suicides, school shootings, and violence at home and abroad, concerned people are commenting, "We must closely consider the collective and personal [...]
Good morning... This spring, I told you earlier I Feel Pregnant With Quadruplets, holding, nurturing, expanding opportunities conceived by God's Spirit. Three weeks ago, our Northside Writers' Group birthed the Women's Lenten Communion Service; a special, sacred evening was enjoyed by all. Two weeks ago, we birthed a second, powerful With God Weather Life Retreat in Ellijay, Georgia; the ripples set [...]
Good morning... After sharing a quote in yesterday's post from Jan Johnson's When The Soul Listens, I quietly rest in the rest of the nurturing chapter. I eat from the feast prepared on pages 170 and 171. ****** The rhythm of action and contemplation makes compassion fatigue and burnout unnecessary. Your conversational life with God will keep you richly [...]
Good morning... "Significant doers draw from a well of quietness before God," writes author and spiritual director Jan Johnson. "For example, Amy Carmichael was a single missionary to India who received temple prostitutes, eventually establishing a home and school for them. She also wrote this: 'Give much time to quietness. We have to get our help for the most [...]
