Good morning... This week I received a "thank you" email from LaTonya Gates, Founder and Director of PAWkids. She expressed gratitude for our generous donation of $1,000 to cover the cost of four students visiting Mississippi Valley State University on Homecoming weekend, October 13th-15th. Larenzia Lawrence, LaTonya's daughter and Director of the PAWkids after-school program, led the amazing [...]
Good morning... Walking down the aisle as mother-of-the-groom, I was surprised to feel my tears well up as I saw the faces of our longtime friends beaming in the crowd. Four couples who helped to raise our son came from Atlanta along with their grown-up sons, guys who had wrestled or played soccer with Kyler since we moved [...]
Good morning... For our make-shift shop, nine of us laid out awesome gifts donated by many generous people in our community. Why create a Secret Santa Shop for vulnerable, at risk children to choose and to wrap gifts for their loved ones? For me, the best answer to this question is a story. ****** LOVE DOES THAT by [...]
Good morning... I love this Halloween photo of our nephew and his expectant wife. On the morning after Thanksgiving, many of us wake stuffed. "Today's average American lives more comfortably than the nineteenth century's wealthiest tycoons, who never beheld the sky from an airplane seat, browsed a website, heated soup in a microwave, or looked at a color [...]
Good morning... On Wednesday evening, a group of nearly one hundred of us gathered at PAWkids to celebrate the life of 7-year-old Hailey Harris who died in a house fire along with her grandmother and two aunts. The 5:00 pm balloon launch in Hailey's honor actually happened around 6:00 pm, followed by grilled hot dogs and fixings, sidewalk [...]
Good morning... "Hi Sue," a longtime church friend wrote several days ago. "Thought you might enjoy these pictures. I took them at Monet’s garden outside of Paris. It was such a hopeful place with all the dreariness in the world. Hope you are well and peaceful." "Oh, how gorgeous," I replied. "Such exquisite beauty. Life-giving. Breath-taking. [...]
Good morning... "God leads us with cords of human kindness," says Hosea 11:4. The God Almighty uses people - weak, vulnerable, powerless people - to guide us with reigns made of love. I am reminded of the book bag tag given to each child at church before the start of the school year. Weak, vulnerable, powerless kids can [...]
Good morning... Unexpectedly waking at dawn near Cleveland, Ohio, I shed quiet tears beside the bay window in my parents' villa. As I look out on their continuum of care community, gloomy rain turns to gentle, white snowflakes on this memorable late March morning. Soon we will visit my mom in the ICU, wondering whether her loving life [...]
Good morning... "Hi there," yesterday I texted a dear friend I have enjoyed quality time with for nearly thirty years. "I have our birthday season lunch on my calendar. What time do you want to meet at our special spot?" "Argh," she replied immediately, "was just going to write you. Spent five hours in Kaiser Urgent Care yesterday. [...]
Good morning... In every life there are mountaintop moments. The birth of a baby and grand graduations. Joyful engagements and fabulous weddings. Quiet "Ah-ha" moments experienced in private and loud celebrations swarming with loved ones. Once in a lifetime trips and breathtaking vistas. (See the photos and reflections taken from the mountaintop of my first trip to Israel, [...]
