Good morning... In good times and in bad, "soul friends" surround us. We are God-with-skin-on to one another. It's as if the Holy Spirit-in-me and the Holy Spirit-in- you enjoy life-giving conversations. Yesterday in our final Friday morning class, we revisited a favorite quote about what it means to be a "soul friend." ****** Excerpt from Simple Faith [...]
Good morning... Most of us have heard that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the fight became deeply personal for me when I received a text from a friend on October 12th at 7:34 am. "Thank you for your message this morning, Courage Is Rekindled," she wrote. "God spoke to me through you in a mighty way! [...]
Good morning... She shared this reading out loud with us. By the end, her eyes were wet with tears. ****** The voice of despair says, “I sin over and over again. After endless promises to myself and others to do better next time, I find myself back again in the old dark places. Forget about trying to change. [...]
Good morning... Her son, Finn, was born on 9/11/04, three years after so many innocent people lost their lives on one horrible day. Finn himself died on 8/14/21, taking his own life. Sharing a poem yesterday, on would have been Finn's 18th birthday, this grieving mom embodies the art of being with someone who is gone. ****** A [...]
Good morning... I was delighted to receive the photo above from LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids, a vibrant non-profit in downtown Atlanta. "Let the ladies know THEY blessed her greatly," LaTonya texted yesterday from Krakow, Poland, where our written word ministry helped support her trip to deliver Crates for Ukraine. Last Saturday, before LaTonya left [...]
Good morning... For the first time since the pandemic began, four out of five of us caught up face to face. Having met many years ago in our living room during a Friday morning Bible study, we call ourselves the "Fab Five friends." Constantly connected, we love supporting our friend whose daughter, Audrey, has been fighting cancer off [...]
Good morning... "This meditation from yesterday really speaks to me, and I think it will speak to you too," she texted me yesterday after a really hard ten days. "Happy Saturday as I enjoy the lake and mountains before the boat traffic starts." ****** Love Is the Only Solution by Richard Rohr, July 22, 2022 Father Richard’s Franciscan [...]
Good morning... Deeply moved... He went into his private room and wept there (Genesis 43:30, NIV). When we are deeply moved, might we also give ourselves the gift of private tears? You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one [...]
Good morning... A longtime friend has also had a loved one fighting for life in the ICU this month. We have been exchanging private prayers and texting one another updates most every day. She wrote me an email after this week's blog post My Mom's Bumpy Ride Home, a post which ended with a music video of Willie [...]
Good morning... Look at that smile! When my father texted this photo of my mom back home at their senior living community, her pure joy made me smile. What a contrast from the image seared on my mind from eleven days before. My mom was hooked up to a ventilator, heavily sedated, laying unresponsive in the ICU. Now, [...]
