Good Morning... As we fix our thoughts on God and trust the LORD to give us perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), we are strengthened to endure our most excruciating hours. Resonating with God's encouragement to fix and to trust, a subscriber I have never met wrote me after yesterday's post, "Our Peace Depends on Two Short Verbs." She wrote: "Dear [...]
Good morning... You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Isaiah 26:3, NLT). With trust in our hearts and God fixed in our thoughts, we are at peace, whatever today brings. Trust and fix. Trust and fix. Our peace depends on two short verbs. You will keep in perfect [...]
Good morning... My friend and her family took their cancer-filled dog to the vet, 'putting her down' so they say. "It was peaceful and quiet," she texted soon after. "She just went to sleep. Thank you, Sue. Your comfort helped me prepare for those steps." Connecting soul to soul in the midst of our daily lives, we experience God's quiet, [...]
Good morning... “Linger” has always been one of my favorite words. Inviting and multifaceted, to linger means to remain in a place longer than expected. To pass time, waiting, in a leisurely way. To persist, although gradually dying, ceasing, disappearing. To stroll, shuffle, stick around. To tarry, trudge, traipse. To dwell, dawdle, dillydally. Linger is slow not fast. Linger [...]
Good morning... Now is about the time when those grieving the loss of our friend Julie are tempted to slip into deep despair. This situation will never change. She is never coming back to us. The high of celebrating her life has dropped down into the relentless ache of physically missing her. One friend who lost her brother way [...]
Good morning... "Mom, why are you completely naked?" my seventeen year old daughter's voice shocked me into laughter. I had forgotten she was upstairs in bed, gifted with a free period before her day of school. While warm bath water was being drawn, I was lollygagging in the living room in my first birthday suit. Oh, how we surprised [...]
Good morning... A friend coined a new phrase for me yesterday, an important phrase for all of us to consider. As my cell phone rang, I saw her name pop up. I picked up immediately, no thought, just response. Her familiar, sweet voice was upset, unsettled. "Do you have a quick minute for an emergency?" "I have a long [...]
Good morning… I received many encouraging emails hoping for a meaningful, memorable meal after yesterday's post, 'Our 6:00 am birthday party.' Truthfully, our family's early morning celebration was a complete dud. Annoyed, sleeping siblings hugged a halfhearted "Happy birthday," before climbing back into bed for an extra hour of sleep. No pancakes were eaten. Most of the eggs were [...]
Good morning... Last week at our final Monthly Listening Group of the semester, we read aloud the Martha and Mary story (Luke 10:38-42). Since Wednesday morning, the story has continued to percolate in me. The first time through the sacred reading, we looked at the story through the eyes of Martha. As I continue to personalize her experience, I [...]
Good morning... I wake today feeling discombobulated. I slept until nearly 6:00 am so this post may not make our shared-coffee ritual. I just woke from a dream I wish I could unpack immediately. Rain again means dog paws have left dirty patterns on our wood floor, ugh. I must tidy up before the cleaners arrive. I fear yesterday's [...]
