Good morning... As I was nudged awake by the Holy Spirit, I climbed out of bed and sat on our couch in the dark of night. A few ideas were dancing with the question, "God, what might I write about right now?" I prayed. I pondered. Then I paused. I opened an email just arriving in my inbox. [...]
Good morning... Highlighting a new book recommendation, Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino by Joyce Rupp, our post from yesterday was simply entitled Relax. Soon a friend emailed from Florida. "Good morning Sue," she wrote. "There’s that word again - relaxed - God in stereo! Watched more Megan Fate wisdom yesterday - can’t wait [...]
Good morning... As the rains set in yesterday morning, our afternoon plans needed to change. As regular weekly volunteers, we brainstormed indoor activities for our final Monday gathering at PAWkids. Beading. Board games. Musical chairs. Freeze dance. Then came the Program Director's request. "Cookie decorating, maybe?" My happy heart lit up. Since I have a mom who loved [...]
Good morning... May speeds way too fast. Extra commitments. Final gatherings. Parties, performances, end-of-school-year stuff. As we slowed down to sit on her screened-in back porch, we unpacked a quote from Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. "To say how little, not how much, can I get [...]
Good morning... On Tuesday morning, a friend sent me this quote from Elizabeth Alexander. This Elizabeth Alexander is a poet and essayist, a teacher and playwright who was born in Harlem, New York. Wikipedia explains, "Previously, Alexander was a professor for 15 years at Yale University, where she taught poetry and chaired the African American studies department. In [...]
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 [...]
