Good morning... "I don't know if you're online with Kate Bowler's messages, so I wanted to pass this along to you," wrote my dear friend. "I saw it a few weeks ago and I thought it was so poignant, especially for those of us who are struggling with very difficult situations," [...]
Good morning... "Hi, Sue," she wrote. "It’s been a trying morning, so reading this gave me hope. Check out this profound paragraph below — 'My ancestors did not survive the Trail of Tears because…' I am embracing the thoughts of inclusivity instead of exclusivity today." ****** Excerpt from Steven Charleston's Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder's Meditations [...]
Good morning... Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2a, VOICE). As a friend shared with us an intriguing Richard Rohr quote, I separated the sentences into stand alone truths, truths in which we now steep ourselves. "If we do not [...]
Good morning... I spent the weekend processing our class trip to Montgomery, Alabama to visit the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, beautiful facilities offering experiential opportunities to teach the story of slavery, lynching, racial injustice in our country. I thought, "These memorials remind me of Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center." We [...]
Good morning... This Christmas Eve morning many in our country wake in the dark to severe cold. Brutal weather. Derailed travel plans. Several go without. Without heat. Without a home. Without loved ones for the first time this Christmas season. All of us face stressors. Uncertainties run rampant. Expectations pile high. Pressures ratchet up, please, perform, perfect. On [...]
Good morning... "Not good news," I was saddened by my friend's text. "The cancer is in her spine, hip, lymph nodes, base of her skull. I'm not sure where we go from here. Marleigh's spirits are good. I'm still taking it day by day. I fall apart when I get ahead of myself. I love you and am [...]
Good morning... This was a weekend of waiting. Waiting for a teenager's scan results. Waiting for a baby's birth. Waiting for my mom's broken leg to heal. Waiting for a loved one's transition to heaven. Waiting for deadly flood waters to recede. Waiting for raging fires to cease. Waiting for this ugly war to end. Waiting for the [...]
Good morning... "God's surround sound again," she texted me early yesterday. "I awoke praying for all those who are in the midst of personal struggles and now moving to our world and it's chaos. Was feeling the call to find and hold onto Hope--to not despair--and then I opened your email, How To Live With Hope. "May the [...]
Good morning... A truckload of immigrants die in the heat. Loved ones are buried after mass shootings. Wars rage on and on, devastating ordinary lives. These are big newsworthy aches which beg for our prayers. Alongside our communal pain are quieter, daily challenges. Depression. Disabilities. Dementia. Divorce. Death. We all face various aches throughout our lifetime. Aches we [...]
Good morning... As the Women's Ministry Director at Northside Church, I love visiting with people who are facing unique challenges. Disease. Divorce. Depression. Difficult decisions. Death of a loved one. One person who has been a vibrant part of our ministry for years has also become the Pastoral Care Executive Assistant at our church. Through a freak accident, [...]
