Good morning... She expressed concerned over crying so much. So I wrote to her my thoughts about the gift of tears. Grief is an unpredictable thing. "Crying so much lately" may feel like "going backward" instead of "making headway," but I think tears are a sign of the Holy Spirit deeply at work. Tears tenderize us and express overwhelming [...]
Good morning... Accepting my son's invitation from yesterday morning, I have prayerfully pondered my final tweet. Even though I have never tweeted before in my life, if given 140 characters, I might send this final tweet to the world. God made us unique, loves us just as we are. Jesus died for each sin, frees, leads, heals whole. Spirit [...]
Good morning... When I shared lunch with my longtime friend Julie Harlan on Thursday, February 16th, the word "cancer" did not enter our meaningful conversation. The next Tuesday she had her annoying symptoms of reflux checked out medically, and by Thursday she was given a shocking diagnosis. Stomach cancer. On Saturday when I visited her at home to listen, [...]
Good morning... Did I tell you that in January God brought a dog walker-whisperer into our Tuesday afternoon Bible study? Let me paint you the picture. We got our 8-week old puppy last June from Adopt-a-Golden Rescue and, when I began hosting daily classes in my home in September, Tate's puppy-ness was full-blown. She was an all-out-crazy bundle of [...]
Good morning... As I was browsing the nearest Goodwill store, a framed print caught my eye. Beside a funky image of a woman chopped up in colorful shapes, I read these words. "I have too much to lose she said, if I cross that line. Like what? I said. She could not think of anything that day so she [...]
Good morning... As we walked around the horse farm at an early morning hour, my friend said the same sentence that had woken me from sleep. "You forgot two holes." She and the Holy Spirit were exactly right, in my post yesterday, "Five holes in our head," I forgot to mention that we each have two nostrils. Revealing a [...]
Good morning... Saturating my waking mind is a song we taught our church youth group twenty-five years ago. "Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me." My soul (my life, my inner [...]
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 privilege of a lifetime is to become who you really are," says Carl Yung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. 'Who we really are' is established by our Creator long before the day of our birth. Each of us whispers in wonder the words of Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT). "You made all the delicate, [...]
Good morning... I discovered a short prayer formed in the humble heart of missionary Amy Carmichael. "Holy Spirit think through me till your ideas are my ideas." May this short prayer begin to form a humble heart within each one of us. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from [...]
