Good morning... "Did you read Sue's devotional? I thought it was unfortunate that she chose an unflattering story about Bryant Skinner after his death," read one text that came into my phone after yesterday's post. Oh no. I felt dread. Self-doubt. Embarrassment. What had I written that could be seen as unflattering? Had my prayed-over words been a [...]
Good morning... I simply must tell you, most every angel figure in our home has at least one broken wing. The angel pictured here, who sits beside us when I host outdoor spiritual direction sessions, broken. The angel in our main nativity creche, broken. The angels in the smaller nativity scenes kept at Christmas in each bedroom, broken. [...]
Good morning... Our Saturday breakdown in communication really had no rhyme and no reason. I checked everything I knew to check and found no sign of why we got "Oops. This Page Could Not Be Found!" instead of our post "So It Was With Marian." In my life "no rhyme or reason" usually has God's fingerprints all over it, [...]
Good morning... Even with our best intentions, glitches fall through our cracks. We cannot catch every ball, juggle every commitment, do every little thing perfectly, each and every day. Being flawed sucks. Accepting flaws sparks growth. After sending out yesterday's post How Do We Forgive? I received several kind emails identifying an error. I went back to the message I [...]
Good morning... Seeing through the shadows of our pointy porcupine of self-protection, God continues our conversation. The Lord called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?” The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!” “How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did [...]
Good morning... I am repeating this image from yesterday's post because I love it so. It captures my experience. In overwhelming moments, it is so very "me." Much like the Cousin Itt character in the 1964 The Addams Family TV series, sometimes I feel like my wild-haired emotions cover my entire body, especially hiding my eyes, rendering me [...]
Good morning... After a recent morning post, one of my favorite people in the world shared with me a poem that touched me deeply. The words I love most beg a startling question: "With the presence of flaws in the grain at our core, what face will we show the world today?" ****** David Whyte's "The Faces at [...]
Good morning... I cannot tell you the number of times someone will say to me, "I loved your post this morning." Way too often my honest response is this: "Really? Remind me. What did I write about today?" In the early morning dawn, I spend hours and hours crafting daily messages, but after I press "send" to you, [...]
Good morning... Every holiday season, the attention of her grandmother was focused on who WAS NOT at the dinner table. "Joe should be with us." "Tonight would be perfect if Katie was here." "Nothing is complete without Angela and the kids." My friend remembers thinking each year, "But, grandma, we ARE here and you are missing the good time [...]
Good morning... Every year I gift words from my school-year blogs to Northside Church, where I am the Women's Ministry Director, and the Creative Arts department creates for our community an online summertime devotional. For June, July, and August my messages are recycled in a new order, given a title, and adorned with beautiful cover art. This year's devotional [...]
