Good morning... Grateful to turn fifty-seven today, I am experiencing my most extreme birthday ever. The word "extreme" is a multifaceted one. As an adjective, "extreme" means very far removed from the ordinary or an outermost point farthest from the norm. As a noun, "extreme" means the highest degree, like "cautious to an extreme," or two things as different from each [...]
Good morning... This Sabbath Sunday is a unique one. As our bodies are held still at home, we refrain from gathering in large groups. Distancing from our normal "Cat in the Hat" balancing act, we slow down. We stay in. We sense God with our soul: "You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand [...]
Good morning... The peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, is ours to enjoy, moment by moment. As I review our posts from this week, I am drawn to the Bible verses tenderly taking our hand and lovingly leading us along. Monday: You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into [...]
Good morning... In the midst of my prayer time, God is growing in me a fresh thought, a new-to-me idea, the spark of the small, simple diagram pictured above. I am certain that this line of thinking has been explored by other curious brains, as Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 (CEV) reminds us: Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the [...]
Good morning... As I journal with God this morning before our crowded house wakes up, I feel mysteriously drawn to create two lists on one page. On the left I jot the heading OVER. On the right I write UNDER. Then I allow words to popcorn into place. OVER - Overwhelmed. Overlooked. Over-served. Overextended. Overspending. Overindulging. Overanalyzing. Overeating. Overweight. [...]
Good morning... Very graciously she said to me, "I don't want to open your blog and hear about negative stuff happening in your community. Cancer. Suicide. Tragedy after tragedy. I have enough hurting people struggling around me. I don't need your painful experiences piling on mine, dragging me down. I read your morning messages hoping to be inspired, [...]
Good morning... Praying aloud in front of a crowd, Jesus said to our Father: "Now I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing so my people can experience my joy completed in them" (John 17:13, MSG). It is an incredible thing to think the joy we experience in our everyday lives is actually the [...]
Good morning... How can you not laugh when someone you love says, "I just woke up one morning and my front teeth were gone. I have no idea where they went!" 93-year-old Betty Skinner looked like a jolly jack-o-lantern the week before Halloween. On Saturday morning we talked for a few hours in Betty's nursing home room, which [...]
Good morning... Our home is filled with artwork created by people I know and love. Margo Boden. Our children. Steve Penley. Gina MacFarland. Sally Mitchell. The one artist who graces our home most often with her beautiful creations is painter, photographer, and philantropist Corrine Adams. One-of-a-kind photographs. Funky seed creations. Transparent bottles filled with cool sayings. Unique jewelry, [...]
Good morning... "We all try to do what seems like the task that life first hands us," writes Richard Rohr, "establishing an identity, a home, relationships, community, security, and building a proper platform for our only life." This is a good place for all of us to begin. Rohr continues: "But it takes us much longer to discover [...]
