Happy Thanksgiving... As we focus on what "is" gratitude grows. "Will I stop focusing forever on what was not given to me," wonders Paula D'Arcy, "and stop regretting the gifts that were brief?" That is a challenging question. Stop focusing on not. Stop regretting brief. As long as we focus forever on what was not given and repeatedly regret [...]
Good morning... At ages eight and eighty-one, my mom and dad diligently dismantled their home this fall to leave Berea, Ohio on November 1st. Having thrived in our hometown for fifty-something years, this morning they wake up in an unfamiliar two bedroom, two bath villa about twenty-five minutes away. I sensed the imminent move last spring when my [...]
Good morning... "Let's say I'm a plumber," said Dallas Wallard during an interview with Jan Johnson, "and I'm going to clean out someone's sewer. How will I do this as Jesus would do it? If you encounter difficulties with the people you're serving or with the pipe or machinery, you never fight that battle alone. You invoke the [...]
Good morning... Like expanding the limits of an aging dog, I learned some new tricks this summer. Adobe. Lightroom. Photoshop. These terms were not part of my brain's vocabulary until I sensed the Spirit say, "Sue, let's add pictures to our everyday blog." I have heard it said that a new habit begins establishing itself after it is [...]
Good morning... After last week's post, Plant Today's Crumbs, I will lean back and let your crumbs of gratitude fall upon the page. Collecting our crumbs and warming our daily bread in the oven of time, today we will each savor a sacred slice. ****** Our Crumbs of Gratitude by "Sue To You" subscribers My crumbs of gratitude [...]
Good morning... One week ago today as a class we celebrated National Gratitude Day. Quietly thinking of all the things for which we are grateful, we lit candles and dripped multi-colored wax onto a centerpiece of broken shells adorning the coffee table in our living room. As wax dripped down, voices of women raised up. "I am grateful [...]
Good morning... "Those who have abandoned themselves to God always lead mysterious lives and receive from him exceptional and miraculous gifts by means of the ordinary, natural and chance experiences in which there appears to be nothing unusual," notices Jean-Pierre de Caussade. "The simplest sermon, the most banal conversations, the least erudite books become the source of knowledge [...]
Good morning... I have loved rocking back and forth with you again on the front porch of our lives, enjoying interactive intimacy this first week of September. I share with you Holy Spirit wisdom from my wee morning hours, and you return to me kind words of affirmation, day after day. When I lean back to listen to [...]
Good morning... Like morning manna falling for the first followers, God rains down the nourishment we each need for this day. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was (Exodus 16:14-15a, [...]
Good morning... “The unexamined life is not worth living,” famously said Socrates. I am not sure I totally agree, "not worth living" may be an absurd absolute. Instead I would say, "An examined life is much more enjoyable." We live the stuff of life once, and, as we examine it and re-examine it, we make deeper connections, we [...]
