Good morning... A dear friend in our Friday morning group keeps us closely connected to the progress of her daughter-in-law, 37-year-old Elizabeth, who is battling advanced colon cancer. Periodically, Elizabeth writes candid blog posts to track her brave journey. This week, she shared important wisdom from a book she just finished reading. ****** Excerpt from Elizabeth's 10/19 PostHope [...]
Good morning... God's timing is interesting. During this tremendously difficult week, "Dark Emotions" is the name of the chapter we are discussing in Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. Dark emotions. Fear. Despair. Sadness. We don't like them. In their presence, our natural tendency is to run and hide. Avoid. Deny. Yet Barbara encourages [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I tried to write a message about the life-altering week of my friend LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids. After hours of crafting and re-crafting, the message oddly zapped away. Twice. The words and images, touched by some human error of mine, simply evaporated. Twice. So, I gave [...]
Good morning... This wordless prayer card I created, which remains front and center for me this week, depicts my deepest desire for Audrey DeShetler: May she live to be a wise, old woman. A resilient eighteen year old, who is battling through her fifth relapse, Audrey was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age five. Being treated with risky radioactive [...]
Good morning... As she sat beside the piano, her need was deep and her voice was crystal clear. She sang out to the God of Jacob and Moses, of Mary and David. The same God who worked back then works in us now. Providing. Moving in power. Healing. Saving. Facing the challenges of our daily lives, we call [...]
Good morning... Audrey DeShelter has lived in my deepest prayers since she was diagnosed with cancer at age five. She is now an amazing young woman, a spectacular student heading into her senior year of high school. Her mom, Jennifer, was in my Bible study at the time Audrey's neuroblastoma was detected, and we have been closely bonded, [...]
Good morning... On behalf of friends going through very challenging circumstances, I crave the healing presence of God. I yearn for God, the all-powerful God, to show up in undeniable ways, ways we can see, sense, surrender into, fully. Just like a deer that craves streams of water, my whole being craves you, God. My whole being thirsts [...]
Good morning... My friend has a cat who companions her beautifully. Our little dog is a lot like her cat. Our precious pets teach us so much about love, about life, about God's gentle presence. I was recently nudged to email my friend: "This poem made me think of you, rocking with your cat curled on your lap, [...]
Good morning... After we shared deeply about the pain she was enduring, one friend prayed for another friend over the phone. Capturing the compassion in my journal, I jotted down many of her vulnerable words. Now in the middle of the night I revisit my notes, piecing together this heartfelt prayer. Dear gracious God, Raw and in process, [...]
Good morning... Four thousand neighbors and me, we still have no internet. So, once again, no blogging in the middle of the night. Still stirred awake in the wee hours, I was drawn to another form of creativity. Accessing the healing power of pansies! Yesterday, I had cut some pansies from our neighborhood's dying patch before they are [...]
