Good morning... I love this photo of a journal I found secondhand at Goodwill. A baby resting in the hands of a father, with words written in a foreign language. The language of letting go feels foreign to us. "Why? How? What will happen?" Our human nature demands, "Cling. Covet more. Control everything," while the Holy Spirit whispers, [...]
Good morning... "I love reading your daily blog messages," one subscriber writes. "So many of them resonate with how I am thinking and feeling." "As both you and your readers commented, so many of our hurt feelings are due to how we interpret comments of others," she observes. "Our interpretations highlight our insecurities and expose our false sources [...]
Good morning... As we savor this Sunday, some college football fans wake elated, others wake frustrated, yet all of us wake up to witness the presence God. As we harness this new habit of peering back before moving forward, we review the week we have experienced together through our everyday blog. Our focus phrase is: Witness God. Enjoy [...]
Good morning... "Aging is really, really hard," 92 year old Betty Skinner admits as we share lunch in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Her eyesight has dimmed. Her hearing is weak. The energy she used to take full advantage of has diminished. Yet contagious joy still beams through her presence. Irresistible. Unmistakable. Captivating calm. "People think they come to see me," [...]
Good morning... From Orlando, today I will drive two and a half hours to Ponte Vedra, Florida to share lunch with 92 year old Betty Skinner. It will be my third lunch with Betty, a tiny, tenacious woman who exhales God's joyous peace with each treasured breath. Nearing the end of her life, Betty shares a beautiful perspective [...]
Good morning... My inbox was inundated after yesterday's post, I Was Just Trying To Help. Often we are blind to the ways our "helping" hurts. I will share three email exchanges fleshing out our tendency to addictively "help" without God's consent. Why do we think we are a better savior than our Savior? ****** Martha's comment: "Oh Sue what [...]
Good morning... "Listen to your life," says Fredrick Buechner, writer, preacher, theologian. "See it for the fathomless mystery it is...touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." (Listening To Your Life, 1) We just had a conversation that did [...]
Good morning... "I must admit that I am THANKFUL to have another Thanksgiving behind me," a subscriber from Charlotte, N.C. writes as she grieves the loss of her young adult son. "Yesterday was tough, and also were the days leading up to it. The anticipation alone puts me in a state of angst, frustration, sadness and anger, all [...]
Good morning... Today is a new day. The sins of yesterday need not expand into the sins of today. Ugly thoughts. Biting words. Selfish deeds. Together with God, we can nip these painful buds right off our branch, letting them fall to the ground, to become humbling hummus for the soil beneath our feet. As we allow our [...]
Happy Thanksgiving... As we focus on what "is" gratitude grows. "Will I stop focusing forever on what was not given to me," wonders Paula D'Arcy, "and stop regretting the gifts that were brief?" That is a challenging question. Stop focusing on not. Stop regretting brief. As long as we focus forever on what was not given and repeatedly regret [...]
