Good morning... "In every picture you take at PAWkids, you exude such joy," said a trusted friend. I'm beginning to realize that the joy we exude offers an "X marks the spot" revelation. A sensation of joyful passion is a great indicator of where and with whom God might want us to invest our time and our talents. [...]
Good morning... The praise band led us in a meaningful song. I thought of all the dusty rubble blanketing Ukraine. All our living bodies that came from dust and will someday return. The humbling pain of the lost, the grieving, the vulnerable. The organic growth of hope that mysteriously sprouts from our chaos. Revisiting the simple lyrics now, [...]
Good morning... At 2:47 am, I am drawn outside by the light of a full moon. Brilliant. Bursting. Beaconing, "Come see." I step out into the chilly cold of January 7th and spiral down into new epiphanies. How did I not know that January 6th is the celebration of Epiphany? Along [...]
Good morning... As she shares her instagram post from December 31st, 2022, important questions echo back to me. What are you loving? What are you learning? What are you leaving? I make three headings on the top of a blank page. LOVING? LEARNING? LEAVING? Then words trickle into place. LOVING? Family time. [...]
Good morning... A friend borrowed words from our Christmas Eve blog post to create the inviting image above. "Loved your message today," she texted. "I posted it along with my picture from church today. What blessings!" I have heard it said, "We don't go to church, we go to worship then we go out to be the church [...]
Good morning... "The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun," explains Wikipedia. "The winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year." Sitting outside on this dark, windy night, I hear my computer "ding," signaling the [...]
Good morning... Sometimes songs unwrap our deepest questions in a creative, life-giving way. Carrying forward our connection with the Pentatonix from yesterday's blog post, we ponder the question, "What did Mary know as she prepared to give birth to God's baby boy?" Enjoy this moving rendition of a well-loved classic, as we prepare to celebrate the birthday of [...]
Good morning... Like the red, hard blueberry in the plastic pail above, my day began with a bitter mistake, an error in judgement, a disrespectful choice. I did what I could to remedy the situation, but the damage had already been done. Hurt had happened. I was wrong. I felt so bad. I genuinely apologized. Disappointed in myself, [...]
Good morning... Light and shadow are inseparable. Joy and sorrow so often hold hands. Highs and lows are quite the pair. Ebbing and flowing cannot be stopped. I read a poem out loud in our Monday class highlighting the two-way street nature of our oneness with God. "For the joy set before him Christ endured the [...]
Good morning... Yesterday afternoon we had our final Monday class of the fall semester. To keep our attendance high, we have learned to end classes before the week of Thanksgiving. After reading a poem about effortless unity with God, sharing the details of some very important prayer concerns, and fleshing out a Spirit-led giving opportunity, together we read [...]
