Good morning... “What kills a soul?" asks Shauna Niequist author of Present Over Perfect. She answers herself: "Exhaustion, secret-keeping, image management." "And what brings a soul back from the dead?" she wonders. "Honesty, connection, grace.” For me, what will it be? Exhaustion. Secret-keeping. Image management. Honesty. Connection. Grace. As I notice where my heart is drawn, I focus [...]
Good morning... "Sue," she wrote. "Yesterday a local acquaintance posted this on Facebook and I shared it with another still reeling from a death. I found it a different kind of living with grief, and it gave me comfort, even though it's been years since my Mother died." ***** The Sacred Work of Grieving by Spirit of a [...]
Good morning... As my friend has been processing her extraordinary grief, she texted a sentence that touched my heart. "I just saw a quote," she wrote. "The pain is the leftover love you don't get to give." Fires, floods, feuds. Loss, lethargy, loneliness. Death, disasters, depression. Cancer, callousness, calamity. Betrayals, breakups, bombings. Accidents, addictions, Alzheimers. There are so [...]
Good morning... Another loyal friend, a daily blog reader and longtime Northside Church member, wrote to me recently, sharing the photo above, offering a tribute to Audrey DeShetler who went to heaven in June. ****** Audrey's Race Is Won by Vilda Brennan About 10 years ago, I took a course called Soul Collage. I loved the concept of [...]
Good morning... Last night, on the grounds of my parents' senior living community in Ohio, I went on a walk at dusk, around 7:30 pm. At 7:56 pm, I received this update from the DeShetler family. I gave my full focus to [...]
Good morning... At 10:00 am at University Hospital near Cleveland, Ohio, my dad had surgery scheduled to remove a cancer spot on his leg yesterday. I stayed at their villa, caring for my mom. At 9:30 am yesterday at CHOA in Atlanta, Georgia, Audrey DeShetler was scheduled to have surgery to put in a stent to open up [...]
Good morning... "I'm having surgery on my leg to remove a cancer spot on June 5th. Is there any way you could come in town to be with your mom during my procedure?" my dad asked in April, as I visited my parents in Ohio for my dad's 88th birthday. I felt honored my dad asked. To be [...]
Good morning... Last Monday, our Fab Five friend group shared lunch with nineteen year old Audrey DeShetler. Audrey's nearly fifteen year cancer journey with neuroblastoma has brought her to a divine healing in recent months. "Audrey, you are well," she sensed during a personal encounter with Jesus. Now she is living into the manifestation of God's miracle. Healing [...]
Good morning... I spent much of my Mother's Day afternoon assembling and delivering welcome bags for today's ISP (Ignatian Spirituality Project) retreat at the Ignatius House Retreat Center. Now, on this special morning, fifteen women recovering from homelessness and addiction will arrive at the MARTA station and be transported to Ignatius House by kind volunteers. Fifteen of you [...]
Good morning... The down-to-earth words of Kate Bowler come into my inbox every Wednesday. Kate is a professor at Duke Divinity School, a writer, a podcaster, and a cancer survivor. Yesterday, Kate shared with me, and millions of her regular blog readers, this tender word of encouragement. ****** Dear Sue, Is it just me, or does May always [...]
