Good morning... "I learned the coolest thing about trees," a friend from afar said over the phone. My ears perked up and my curiosity sparked. So, I got out a pen to amplify her insights, recording her thoughts in my royal blue journal, a journal which just happened to be named "Heart of the Tree Journal." This is roughly what [...]
Good morning... Somewhere at some point within this past week, I ran across this quote hanging on someone's wall: "Our deepest roots are not touched by the frost." Our deepest roots have been growing since God first brought us to mind, and disaster and depression and even death deepen us down to our sturdiest roots. Jesus whispers, "I have [...]
Good morning... This morning, I feel drawn to make two lists in my journal. Left column: World's Way. Right column: God's Way. Then I brain dump words into each category. World's Way: Comply. Compete. Control. Act nice. Avoid pain. Look good. Perform. Perfect. Please people. Make money. Accumulate stuff. Be the best. God's Way: Trust God. Surrender all. Die to selfish desires. [...]
Good morning... "We are like plants full of tropisms..." writes Parker Palmer on page 6 of Let Your Life Speak. My mind wonders, "What does tropism mean?" So I google the word and learn some fun facts. The noun tropism grows from the root word "to turn." Tropisms are the turning or bending movements of a living organism toward [...]
Good morning... "I have been receiving such confirmation through you, my stewardship coach, and my therapist that reading Let Your Life Speak will be beneficial in discerning vocation," writes Mary from Charlotte, N.C., the author of the words from our recent post, Gratitude Holds Hands With Grief. She says, "Here is what really jumped out at me so far, 'True vocation [...]
Good morning... Resolutions. Some make them. Few keep them. Why, by now, have many good intentions waned? Because the focus of most resolutions is on our own external efforts. We promise to do more or less. We strive to look better, feel better, act better. At the beginning of each year, many of us commit again to perfecting our [...]
Good morning... After our recent post, God's Crazy Love, a handful of you wrote affirmation. "Love this!!!" "Today's devotional was so beautiful." "Thank you for this message especially in this crazy time of year when it should be so quiet and calm. He is a good good Father." "Merry Christmas and thank you for making each morning brighter for me." [...]
Good morning... "In all of creation, identity is a challenge only for humans," writes David Benner in The Gift of Being Yourself. "A tulip knows exactly what it is. It is never tempted by false ways of being. Nor does it face complicated decisions in the process of becoming. So it is with dogs, rocks, trees, stars, amoebas, electrons [...]
Good morning... The phone rang around 5:20 am, "Mom, I think you should go back to sharing your complete blog in your morning email rather than forcing us to click 'Read more' to receive the entire message." Our oldest son called to encourage me from Australia, where he is spending his year ministering to college students. With a 14 [...]
Good morning... When asked to teach a Sunday school class at Peachtree Road Methodist, I was given the topic. "How best do we pass along faith to our young adult children?" God shepherded the spirited group through an interesting lesson, creatively cultivating the soil of our hearts. After unpacking a plethora of parenting possibilities, we shifted our focus from [...]
