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 [...]
Good morning... I went with a dear friend to the CeCe Winans concert at the Fox Theatre this week. This week, as Jerry's body was laid to rest at age 64, leaving his family and friends to grieve. This week, when thousands of ordinary people have lost their lives on all the ugly sides of our world's deep [...]
Good morning... I love this image from Kate Bowler's devotional for the week. The picture gently holds hands with title of her email. "Joy is the oxygen for doing hard things." This subject line is a quote from Gary Haugen who runs International Justice Mission, "a non-profit organization committed to liberating vulnerable individuals from the clutches of modern [...]
Good morning... As I woke from my second sleep yesterday, I revisited our blog post, I Don't Know What I Feel. "I created the wordless prayer card above to say what I do not know how to feel," I wrote. "Taking time to really look at the image intimately, what wordless prayers rise up in you now?" I [...]
Good morning... "Sue and Steve," a longtime friend emailed my husband and me yesterday. "Sending blessings to the two of you who minister to so many in so many ways. I bet you already have this resource, but I’m forwarding in case you don't. Steve, I am praying for you and our community at Lovett as we begin [...]
Good morning... "Sue," wrote a friend from our Monday afternoon study group, which is quietly off for the summer months. "Such a wonderful message from Kate Bowler this week! Hope your summer is going well and the much anticipated wedding arriving so soon! Happy days to you!" I touch on the link she shared and breathe in the [...]
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 [...]
