Good morning... "For me, the word cancer is interchangeable with the word life," a wise, wise woman taught her daughter before leaving earth for heaven. This daughter happens to be one my good friends. Since today, February 4th, is World Cancer Day, I reached out to my friend to further unwrap the gift of her mom's unusual statement. [...]
Good morning... This Christmas season we pared down to essentials. Immediate family. A handful of favorite ornaments on our ten foot fresh tree. And one nativity, this tiny nativity brought home from a late November yard sale. Because we were living lighter, we were able to spontaneously adjust when generous friends offered us a getaway to their mountain [...]
Good morning... As I shared with you earlier, this week I enjoyed the privilege of recording a podcast on grief with Ginna MacFarling, seasoned hospice nurse, and James Johnson, our lively and talented Adult Discipleship Director at Northside Church. James edited down our voices into bite sized segments, entitling our life-giving conversation Unwrapping the Gift of Grief: Grief, [...]
Good morning... Picking up medicine at the CVS pharmacy, I passed by the notebook aisle and saw the journal above. "Start by Starting," encouraged the cover. I felt drawn to it, the nudging words, the golden rings, the waves of pink, peach, purple. I picked it up and tacked it onto my purchase. I didn't think another thing [...]
Good morning... "I just feel disconnected," she said as we walked and talked. She recently buried a beloved family member, her dear dog passed away, and, like many of us over these COVID holidays, she has lost the ability to safely gather with extended family and large groups of fun friends. Cut off from many of her dependable [...]
Good morning... I found this unique cross at Goodwill years back. It hangs on our bedroom wall, reminding me that our broken pieces are mended mysteriously by the grace of God. I have pointy pieces, shattered shards, childhood chips. So does everyone I love and everyone I sometimes hate. The question for each of us becomes, "How might [...]
Good morning... Sitting social distanced beneath our back porch, she pulled out her phone and texted me photos of a fun activity she had done with her grandchildren, tracing their outstretched arms, painting and cutting out the paper arms, and sending them to their great grandmother with a personal love poem. She gave me permission to share this [...]
Good morning... According to dictionary.com, the verb "disperse" has three common meanings. 1. to drive or send off in various directions; scatter: to disperse a crowd. 2. to spread widely; disseminate: to disperse knowledge. 3. to dispel; cause to vanish: The wind dispersed the fog. I witnessed the dynamics [...]
Good morning... "I loved your devotional about feeling "torn to pieces" and God pulling us out of the hole," she wrote, referring to our exploration of Psalm 40:2 (VOICE), He reached down and drew me out of the deep, dark hole where I was stranded, mired in the muck and clay. With a gentle hand, He pulled me [...]
Good morning... "Here's today's excerpt from Streams in the Desert," she texted me a copy of yesterday's devotional message. "I'm trying to position myself in the cushion of God's peace today!" I loved discovering the "wisdom of the day" from this well-loved collection. ****** Excerpt from October 20 - Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman The peace of [...]
