Good morning... I did stuff I shouldn't have done. I didn't do everything I should have. I'm up tonight, obsessing about "things I've done and things I've left undone." This phrase - "things I've done and things I've left undone" - this phrase shaped my mind as a child as, by rote, I recited it each Sunday as [...]
Good morning... Refocusing my scattered attention, a friend sent me his favorite Christmas poems. Here is one for us to enjoy today, accompanied by the wisdom of Scripture, amplified with an uplifting song. ****** I Will Light Candles from The Mood of Christmas by Howard Thurman I will light Candles this Christmas, Candles of joy despite all the sadness, [...]
Good morning... A tender friend texted me this calming photo. I read the words aloud to myself. Slowly. Quietly. Twice. ...I relied on God’s Spirit to demonstrate God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4b, VOICE). ...Sue... Respond to Sue privately. Sue Browse our website. suetoyou.com Enjoy our [...]
Good morning... As the December rush picks up, our good intentions break down. Overindulging everything, we underestimate the stress. Too much. Too fast. Too loud. Then, one of my old favorite songs meets us just where we are. "This one knocked me to the ground This one dropped me to my knees I should have seen it coming [...]
Good morning... "Finding peace," she wrote me the day after the election, having just returned home from a trip to Portugal. "It certainly is a practice right now for me of 'breaking up' with the addictive consumption of news. I am also using all of the strategies I learned in Alanon about how to be at peace 'even [...]
Good morning... On my way to the Peace of Mind symposium last Friday, I suddenly found myself stuck in traffic. Stand still traffic. Frustrating traffic. Really, really annoying traffic. Two friends were counting on me to pick them up, and I was stuck. Powerless. Letting them down. Feeling really bad. Running late, I texted my apology. I beat [...]
Good morning... "Here is our poem for this morning," I texted her before our monthly spiritual direction phone call. This poem, shared by a friend, has helped me through a tumultuous week. I hoped it might center her too. Now, I pray that these calming words might also envelop you. ****** Find Your Quiet in the Storm by [...]
Good morning... During our therapeutic community group on Tuesday morning, we discussed things that are "out of my control" and things that are "in my control. "Out of my control" are these important facets of life. How healing happens. The scars of my past. What God thinks of me. Other's opinions. Results of my obedience. If others want [...]
Good morning... "Scanning now." Last Wednesday at 9:22 am, our Fab Five friends received this photo and this two-word text from Jennifer, Audrey's mom. (You may remember that Audrey, a beloved Northside Church member, is a freshman at Notre Dame who has been journeying with neuroblastoma since she was five and a half years old.) We all lifted [...]
Good morning... Feeling drawn to expand the words, I reworked the final paragraph of yesterday's blog post. "Enveloped in the symphony of the Spirit – before, during, and after this election – we surrender into the expansive grace of God," I wrote. "As we continue to gaze at him in trust, we become a part of the art [...]
