Good morning... One month ago today, I settled into the passenger’s seat of Cathy Smith’s car. This close friend to many of us invited me to visit with her the cemetery where their precious daughter Abby is laid to rest. At midnight on March 23, 2004, I handed my birthday baton to this new little babe and Abby [...]
Good morning... As I wake on this lazy Labor Day weekend, what is the strange word tickling the tip of my brain's tongue? "Hiatus." I google the meaning of "hiatus" and a plethora of possibility pours forth. A pause in a series, sequence, or process. A break. An intermission. A lull, respite, breather. I learn that in Latin [...]
Good morning... "Most days I eat breakfast and/or lunch on my back porch. Our dogs sit at my feet or play in the yard. The big sky opens wide to offer art lessons. Trees and leaves slow-dance with the breeze. Birds and butterflies, squirrels and chipmunks, all God's creatures frolic in freedom. Fresh air fills my lungs and rejuvenates [...]
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 [...]
