Good morning... We enjoyed a slow, low-key day after my parents' joyful Music Man performance at their senior living community in Ohio. Waking late. Talking over breakfast. Enjoying a relaxing morning together. Going to an appointment with the eye doctor. Grateful for good news, "Everything looks great." Stopping by Dairy Queen to order an ice cream cake for [...]
Good morning... During our final Wordless Prayer Card making session on the third Wednesday in April, one woman made a card for Elizabeth, the 38-year-old wife and mom of three who is facing the spread of her advanced colon cancer. Elizabeth is the daughter-in-law of our dear friend, Joan, who is a loyal member of our Friday morning [...]
Good morning... On Tuesday morning, a friend sent me this quote from Elizabeth Alexander. This Elizabeth Alexander is a poet and essayist, a teacher and playwright who was born in Harlem, New York. Wikipedia explains, "Previously, Alexander was a professor for 15 years at Yale University, where she taught poetry and chaired the African American studies department. In [...]
Good morning... When I browse the chaplain's message below, written by my husband Steve, I vividly remember the story of strife he shares from our younger years. Now as I look at the unrest on college campuses and intense conflicts at home and abroad, I wonder along with Steve, "Why does God allow us to wrestle, fight and [...]
Good morning... "Christ Holds It All Together" reads the heading above Colossians 1:15-20 in the Message translation. As we bullet point the wisdom of this lively section of Scripture, we begin to sense why the risen Christ is so essential to our entire existence. We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We [...]
Good morning... As she read to me over the phone this poem by Ranier Maria Rilke, I calmed into my body in a very settled way. "Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don't let yourself lose me." Embodying this whisper, everything is [...]
Good morning... Her blog post was sobering, surrendering, soul-touching. Sifting through a pile of powerful words, she unleashed life-giving song lyrics, "Don't waste today being scared of tomorrow." ****** Excerpt from Elizabeth's PostHope blog post, February 1, 2024 Too much heaviness. Too much weight. Too much pain. Too much fear. Too much wondering. Too much waiting. Too much [...]
Good morning... If we were to send out a Christmas card this year, we would likely share this sweet family photo from the September day our son Kyler married his amazing wife Chandler. What you would not see is the bitter of the hurricane sweeping through Charleston, S.C. two days before, or the bitter of my parents missing [...]
Good morning... "What people stand to discover...is the close relationship between individual heartbreak and the brokenheartedness of the world," notices Barbara Brown Taylor in Learning to Walk in the Dark. "While those who are frightened by the primal energy of dark emotions try to avoid them, becoming more and more cut off from the world at large, those [...]
Good morning... A dear friend in our Friday morning group keeps us closely connected to the progress of her daughter-in-law, 37-year-old Elizabeth, who is battling advanced colon cancer. Periodically, Elizabeth writes candid blog posts to track her brave journey. This week, she shared important wisdom from a book she just finished reading. ****** Excerpt from Elizabeth's 10/19 PostHope [...]
