Good morning... This week in our therapeutic community group, I was asked to read aloud a tender poem by Rashani Rea. "The Unbroken" offers us a glimpse into the soulful surprises we may find nestled inside our deepest sorrows. I am used to trying to process these opposite forces. broken - [...]
Good morning... As we gathered in the Northside Church chapel last night, we experienced the thin veil between the seen and the unseen. "Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever," explains 1 Corinthians 15:42b (NLT). The sacred chapel space was filled with the inviting harmonies of [...]
Good morning... As our Fab Five friend group was planning our lunch for this afternoon, Jennifer DeShetler wrote: "Sue, has anyone forwarded you Ben's Facebook post?" I answered, "No. Please send it on. I always love what both of you write." Jennifer shared with me the loving words Ben wrote yesterday about their daughter Audrey, who went to [...]
Good morning... I recently met this sign at a restaurant in Madison, Georgia. As we savor C.O.F.F.E.E this morning, might we give thanks for God's enduring truth? Christ Offers Forgiveness For Everyone Everywhere. I am reminded of the lyrics from a song that the kids in our youth group loved to sing in the 1990's, Breathe Deep by [...]
Good morning... The eternal life of two faithful women have passed through to the other side. Dictionary.com explains: "A matriarch is the female head of a family, tribe, clan, or organization, or a respected and influential senior woman." This month, Northside Church is missing from our midst two gifted matriarchs. On October 11th, we celebrated the 88 vibrant [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, I enjoyed the privilege of attending the Kitchen Cura graduation at the Ignatius House Retreat Center. Kitchen Cura is a six month culinary internship program which empowers individuals recovering from addiction and homelessness by teaching scratch-cooking, developing knife skills, and mastering the ability to host nutritious meals in hopes of building hospitality careers. The participants [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's post, I shared this gorgeous photo sent earlier in the week by a friend, a picture of the crescent moon resting close to a planet in the dark of night. I finished my two hours of blogging then headed back to bed for my second sleep. Unfortunately, I was woken up early to take [...]
Good morning... Yesterday we gathered for our first Wednesday afternoon class of the semester to study Waking Up to This Day: Seeing the Beauty Right before Us by Paula D'Arcy. New faces joined our crowd of old friends, and the Holy Spirit bonded us naturally. To introduce ourselves, we shared one thing we noticed about the cover of [...]
Good morning... On Saturday, I received a text from my dad in Ohio: "I received a message from Ingar (Margit's son). He said that Margit passed away this morning. She passed peacefully surrounded by family." She passed away at her home in Norway, pictured above in April of 2020. Margit spent a year with our family as a [...]
Good morning... Two weeks ago, our Fab 5 friend group circled up with Jennifer DeShelter over lunch. Jennifer is the mother of beloved Audrey, who passed away fifteen months ago after a fifteen year battle with pediatric cancer. Then last week, Audrey's dad, Ben, posted this moving message on Facebook. ****** This week would have marked the beginning [...]
