Good morning... "Would you like me to seat you inside or out on the veranda?" asked the hostess. "I would love to sit on the veranda," my spirit leapt. As I enjoyed a quiet meal to myself, I thought about the word "veranda." By definition, it is a large, open porch, usually roofed and partly enclosed. Rarely stumbled [...]
Good morning... Walking our dog, I noticed a dead cardinal in the grass beside the sidewalk. Such a gorgeous bird. Brilliant red. Lying motionless. Dropping our dog back at home, I picked up a dust pan, hopped in the car and returned to the bird. Scooping this beauty into the dust pan with a stick, [...]
Good morning... Is it possible to be cheerful each day, filled with cheer, with joy, with gladness regardless of the circumstances into which we wake? This Father's Day morn, Scripture quietly whispers to us in surround sound. A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:13, NIV). Every day is a terrible day [...]
Good morning... "On the way over here," she said as she arrived for her spiritual direction session, "I was given the image of me sitting in the chair at the eye doctor's office. You know how you put your chin on that machine and you look through a series of lenses with the doctor asking, 'Which is better, [...]
Good morning... Many of you have written to ask more about the EMOTION WHEEL talked about in yesterday's blog post, Treasure Each Tuesday. So, I went on a treasure hunt to find a copy of a similar image for our written word community, and viola! Here it is. Take a moment to look over the emotions detailed above. [...]
Good morning... "I feel like a tired Tigger," she said as we shared a walk and talk in yesterday's chilly sun. "I would love to bounce forward like you said in your blog today, but I just feel like I am bouncing up and down like Tigger, bounce, bounce, bounce, but I'm not going anywhere. It's exhausting to [...]
Good morning... "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy," sings the John Denver lyrics in my brain as I scroll through beach photos on my phone. Even as I cozy up on our couch at home, I sense the oceanic rhythms of God continuing to melt layers of me. I am reminded of truth shared by [...]
Good morning... Watching the footage of yesterday's siege on the U.S. Capitol building, our youngest son asked, "If I have kids, do you think images from this day will be in their history books?" We agreed that we were watching history in the making. Reconvening after the violence, leaders in the House and the Senate were each given [...]
Good morning... A seventy year old blog subscriber from southwest Washington state recently sent me this magnet with a kind note. "Don't tell God how BIG your storm is, tell the storm how BIG your GOD is." I have lived with this small gift and loved it immensely, and at the same time I have sensed three things [...]
Good morning... Emmanuel, God-with-us, is born anew today. God humbles himself to put on skin, to grow up with us, to walk beside us, to quietly guide us. Christ's footprint mirrors our footprint, wherever slushy, sloppy circumstances greet us at rise of sun. Day after day, night after night, God's experience gently mirrors our experience so we never [...]
