Good morning... On Saturday, August 4th, 2018, three of us hiked quietly through a mountainous forest near Cashiers, North Carolina. We came upon an interesting plaque beside a fallen tree. "Competition is fierce in nature," read the engraved words, "even among the beautiful trees, shrubs, and herbs in the forest. Sunlight, water, and nutrients are quietly 'fought over' by [...]
Good morning... Since I began blogging daily in January of 2012, there have been a large handful of posts I will always remember. Posts I love. Posts teaching timeless truths. Posts continuing to shape me, even to this day. The wildfires in California now spark in my mind one of my favorite posts of all time, written in 2014. [...]
Good morning... We sat in a small, sacred circle, ranging from one-hundred-and-one years old, through ninety-eighty-seventy-somethings, to fifty-five year old me. Our soulful speaker, a dear friend of mine, read aloud wisdom from Richard Rohr: "Poetry gives you resonance more than logical proof, and resonance is much more healing and integrating." He continued reading Rohr in his slow, [...]
Good morning... Gravity says, "What goes up, must come down." Planted bulbs promises, "What goes down must come up." A wise father encourages, "Plant rapid-rising radishes with your slow-growing carrots so, seeing green growth, you will not give up hope." And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will [...]
Good morning... Okay, I just have to tell you a really embarrassing story. One summer day, I parked our van in the garage like normal, like I do every day. As I walked around the back bumper into our house, I noticed a plastic box hanging on the garage wall. "Huh," I thought, "I've never seen that before." [...]
Good morning... The first Adam paved a wide path to sin and separation from God. Our human feet just naturally followed. When the moment was right, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, zipped up a suit of skin and came down from heaven to walk with us on earth, blazing a new path for us to return home to God. [...]
Good morning... This summer, two of my best friends and I walked through the mountains near Cashiers, North Carolina, and I snapped this photo of a pruned back tree becoming host to new forms of life, sprouting moss, supporting seedlings. This image returned to mind as I read these words aloud to our class this week. ****** Excerpt [...]
Good morning... All summer long, I rested in the hands of our divine Daddy and nested in the challenging comfort of two Scripture verses. Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV) speaks God's unsettling truth. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, [...]
Good morning... As our writers' group gathered for dinner last week, a nagging question gained significant weight in my mind. I had avoided this question. Then resisted this question. Then wrestled with this question for nearly ten years. Finally, I felt myself let go. I felt lead to seek trusted counsel. When it was my turn to share with our [...]
Good morning... Praying in silence to begin this day, for the first time I notice a new thing. The peace lily in our living room has a white bloom appearing. I have watered this plant diligently, every few days, since it was given to me as a gift a while back. I have enjoyed nurturing her glossy green leaves [...]
