Good morning... Our tree is down. Our hopes are up. Before the new day dawns, a poem breezes in. ****** i am running into a new year By Lucille Clifton i am running into a new year and the old years blow back like a wind that i catch in my hair like strong fingers like all my [...]
Good morning... Around 7:00 pm on Thursday night, an email was sent out by The Lovett School. After nearly 29 years of serving as the head chaplain, my husband, Steve, is taking on a new role at the school next year. As Chaplain Emeritus, Steve will expand his pastoral care to the wider Lovett community and create a [...]
Good morning... On Wednesday night in the Northside Church sanctuary, Ron Greer shared wisdom with us from his new book The Quiet House: Reflections on the Loss of a Spouse. He said, "This book is like a parable, a story with a lesson. Parable also means 'placing beside,' a story we place beside the story of our lives. [...]
Good morning... This week I received a "thank you" email from LaTonya Gates, Founder and Director of PAWkids. She expressed gratitude for our generous donation of $1,000 to cover the cost of four students visiting Mississippi Valley State University on Homecoming weekend, October 13th-15th. Larenzia Lawrence, LaTonya's daughter and Director of the PAWkids after-school program, led the amazing [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I snap a photo of the sign that greeted me yesterday as I settled into my parents' villa at their senior living community in Olmsted Township, Ohio. This sign makes me smile. A simple, handcrafted warm welcome. Susie, my nickname growing up. My mother's always beautiful handwriting. The kind [...]
Good morning... "Do you realize that sometimes your words (actually God’s) speak in ways so far beyond the original intent?" she emailed me after yesterday's post, The Doorway To Hope. "I’m so sorry you’ve shouldered so many deaths to those close to you lately, but I am grateful your messages are of purpose and hope and peace for [...]
Good morning... During this night as the moon fills with light, I am drawn to my new book of poems, Poetry of Presence. Randomly flipping to page 57, I nestle into this moment at hand. There is so much we cannot change about this wounding world. Yet, moment to moment, we [...]
Good morning... As my mind quietly shifts from asleep to awake, I take one huge breath and immediately think of my friend Anne. Today the Landers' family will reverently lay Jerry's body to final rest, but, joy of joys, Jerry's robust spirit has already returned to our God, carried in the arms of his best friend Jesus. I [...]
Good morning... Gathering around the kitchen island as one dear friend prepared a birthday dinner for another dear friend, we were discussing how important Jerry and Anne Landers have been to our church family, for years and years and years. Teaching Sunday school. Leading Bible studies. Facilitating worship experiences. Instigating healing prayer. Volunteering on committee after committee. Sharing [...]
Good morning... As the full harvest moon slowly begins to empty and September breathes its last, I experience a strange occurrence. After taking our dogs out to relieve themselves in the middle of this night, I sit down on the couch to write. A few minutes later I hear a slow and quiet "creeeeeeeeeeeek." Moving cautiously toward the [...]
