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... "Do you know what you will write about each night when you wake?" she asked. "No, I really don't," I said. "I just trust the Spirit to illuminate something I need to ponder." The winds of inspiration pick up as I take our little dog out to relieve herself. Walking back inside, I see a white [...]
Good morning... Spending quality time with a friend who is seventy-eight years old, I read aloud to her this poem written by Becky Hemsley. "I have spent my whole life trying to please people," she responded. "It's exhausting and impossible. This poem gives me permission to just breathe and be me." Now as you read aloud this life-giving [...]
Good morning... The waxing moon, three nights before full, casts a funky design on our bathroom floor, and moonlight paints cool shadows all over our living room walls. Beckoned barefoot out into the mild night, I marvel at the dark branches stretching toward the light of the moon. [...]
Good morning... Amid a wild, windy thunderstorm in the middle of this dark night, I am drawn back to a poem I met yesterday about a different kind of hurricane. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.” Then he took a deep breath [...]
Good morning... "Someone sent me this yesterday morning," she texted. "Loved listening to it on my way to chemo." I hope many of us will love listening to this song on our way through fear, through pain, through deep, life-changing loss. And now, dear friends, may the Lord of peace Himself grace you with peace always and in [...]
Good morning... Yesterday morning, I made a mistake. I dated our blog post January 11, 2023. Not 2024. I would have missed the error, except that I pushed the "Previous" button at the top of the page and this is the old message that promptly popped up. _______________________________________________________ I Want That [...]
Good morning... Essential things linger from yesterday's post, Key Questions For This New Year. I follow my own encouragement and choose three questions that are whispering for my attention. Can I soften? Can I soften some more? Which comes first, forgiveness or the peace? What's at stake? Hard. Selfish. Controlling. Forcing our own way doesn't get us where [...]
Good morning... A peaceful saying lives on this purple journal. "Nature does not hurry and yet everything is accomplished," Lao Tzu wisely notices. Now I am drawn to change one letter. "Nature does not worry and yet everything is accomplished." Worrying does not do any good; who here can claim to add even an hour to his life [...]
Good morning... "I am feeling the magic of just being with, fully present," I email a friend whose father passed away this year. This week I am hanging out with my dad in Ohio as we support my mom, who is slowly recovering in the hospital from a life-threatening infection. "Keeping quiet. Letting things unfold. Trusting God with [...]
