Good Morning... As I soaked in the stillness of the Ignatius House Retreat Center, choice words of reflection came to rest upon my page. "Safe. Secure. Simple. That was my old unblemished life. Through a series of large, crashing waves, God separated me from the life of my childhood dreams. Clarity, comfort, connection all tumbled, tumbled, tumbled away. With God saying 'no' [...]
Good morning... After Jesus' death and resurrection, the world's power people were trying to silence the apostles. "Stop talking about this Jesus!" they demanded. When pressed to choose between obeying God and obeying men, the first followers chose God, sharing personally about Jesus everywhere they went. When the council members heard this, they became so angry that they wanted [...]
Good morning... So many of us have seen and loved the movie Same Kind of Different As Me, yet there is one sacred moment I miss from the book that did not appear in the Hollywood version. “Early in the morning, the doorbell rang,” writes Ron Hall on page 182. “When I opened the door, I saw Denver standing [...]
Good Morning... Four words will always stay with me from the book I am teaching on Mondays and Fridays in our modest living room. "When in doubt, wait," Jan Johnson writes in When the Soul Listens. Deciding this, that, or the other. When in doubt, wait. Compelled to vent anger yet trying to walk in love. When in doubt, [...]
Good Morning... In times of crisis, tragedy, and transition, old faith pillars are tested. As I searched for my lost, hurting soul in 2004, I wrote these words on my June 10th journal page. "The core of my faith is this: God wants a relationship with each one of us. As we surrender our lives to Christ, God fills [...]
Good Morning... One line lingers from yesterday's post: God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life (Psalm 51:10, MSG). Chaos. During times of loss, grief, transition, we know the experience and we hate the word. Her synonyms often grow like unwanted weeds. Disrupted disarray. Uprooted upheaval. Tumultuous turmoil. A muddled mess of maybes. I find [...]
Good Morning... I was the first to wake in my friend's mountain home. Surprise. Surprise. As I shuffled my way down the stairs in the dimly lit dark, I noticed a children's book sitting in a pile on the third step from the bottom: Same Kind of Different As Me For Kids: Everybody Can Help Somebody by Ron Hall [...]
Good morning... "Sue, I had to tell you about the 'God Wink' we had this morning and how God used you to reach out to us through your blog," she emailed me last week. "We were driving up to Highlands, NC this morning with husband's siblings and families. The purpose of our journey was to have a small ceremony to [...]
Good morning... Every year I gift words from my school-year blogs to Northside Church, where I am the Women's Ministry Director, and the Creative Arts department creates for our community an online summertime devotional. For June, July, and August my messages are recycled in a new order, given a title, and adorned with beautiful cover art. This year's devotional [...]
Good morning… A well-loved subscriber from Jacksonville, Florida often sends me words of loving encouragement. This week she sent me the 5.4.17 blog of Maureen Ahearn Cully entitled "Begin with the End in Mind." I resonate with these words as our oldest son graduates from college today and my youngest daughter graduates from high school next Sunday. I am [...]
