Good morning... “Linger” has always been one of my favorite words. Inviting and multifaceted, to linger means to remain in a place longer than expected. To pass time, waiting, in a leisurely way. To persist, although gradually dying, ceasing, disappearing. To stroll, shuffle, stick around. To tarry, trudge, traipse. To dwell, dawdle, dillydally. Linger is slow not fast. Linger [...]
Happy Easter... My friend experienced Julie's presence the day of her passing. I asked her to write the memory for me so I could share it with you. Here is her story. "I went outside to tell my husband what I’d just learned about Julie dying… I was crying and trying to talk... Right as I spoke our fully [...]
Good morning... The night before the memorial service, I had an intense dream. It was like I was traveling through an invisible, physical barrier between earth and heaven. I felt as if I was in one of those airplane movies where people hold on for dear life and their faces contort in unimaginable ways as they fight through strong, [...]
Good morning... "Telling my boys that their mom had gone to heaven Sunday was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in this life," wrote Chad on Julie's Caring Bridge page yesterday, "but they, like me, cling to the peace and comfort that they will see their mom again and get to be reunited with her in heaven. [...]
Good morning... Through Northside Church, we feed tons of homeless men, women, and children throughout Atlanta each Super Bowl Sunday. Today at the church, volunteer men, women, and children will make hundreds and hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from donated ingredients. Between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, generous men, women, and children will drop off the gallons [...]
Good morning... In 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, the Bible records a historic inauguration. Remember with me that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, offering chiseled-in-stone rules-to-live-by for the followers of the one true God (Exodus 20). Upon those commandments, the people of Israel founded their nation, creating their laws and forming their government. Yet over time [...]
Good morning... The timing was symbolically perfect. Wednesday, November 30th: Eerie skies. Blustery winds. Atlanta's tornado warnings uprooted 'normal'. Thursday, December 1st: As wild weather died down, the Christmas season sped up. Parties and performances. Shopping and shipping. Friends, family, favorite foods. More. More. More. Autumn's 'normal' uprooted. As darkness descended on a crazy day, I drove into the [...]
Good morning... I sit at a red light behind this bumper sticker: "Neither one 2016." My mind yearns to exchange this old sticker with a new one: "All of us 2016." I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s [...]
Good morning... Often the truth God teaches me daily, personally is echoed in the online meditation I receive from the Henri Nouwen Society at 5:05 am each morning. Yesterday was no different. I put a microphone to God's whisper, "Blend your 'being' with your 'doing' so all becomes an energizing prayer." Then I opened Nouwen's 11.17.16 devotional: "All Jesus' [...]
Good morning... “None can believe how powerful prayer is and what it is able to effect but those who have learned it by experience,” commented Martin Luther. Northside Methodist Church, where I am privileged to be the Women's Ministry Director, is inviting our community to experience prayer's power during a "Prayers for Our Nation" service tonight, November 6th at [...]
