Good morning... "My practice has always been morning and evening prayer," our new-since-August headmaster at The Lovett School said as she spoke this week to our "Moms In Prayer" group. "The past several months this habit has been more challenging. Quieting my thoughts. Carving out the time. At night, staying awake." "But there is a gift someone gave [...]
Good morning... Opening time and space in these first wee hours, I wait for God to whisper. Who knows what will bubble up and spill on my journal? As I wait, quietly attentive, I strangely feel drawn to doodle. I doodle my memory of 93-year-old Betty Skinner's room in her assisted living facility in Florida. I sketch her [...]
Good morning... "Did you read Sue's devotional? I thought it was unfortunate that she chose an unflattering story about Bryant Skinner after his death," read one text that came into my phone after yesterday's post. Oh no. I felt dread. Self-doubt. Embarrassment. What had I written that could be seen as unflattering? Had my prayed-over words been a [...]
Good morning... She said to me honestly, "With all of the division in our world, religiously and politically, I really am not sure how to pray." Her confusion made me think of Sue Monk Kidd's comment: "To believe you can find your way 'home' through the crises and the sufferings that fall upon you - and believe it [...]
Good morning... In the early morning darkness, I quietly unravel more. My soul skips back to that verb from yesterday's post. "Unravel" piques my interest, so I google her definition on Dictionary.com to disentangle her many facets. clear up resolve disclose explain sort out unriddle To separate or disentangle the threads of (a woven or knitted fabric, a [...]
Good morning... Beloved American poet Mary Oliver tiptoed over from earth to heaven one week ago today in Hobe Sound, Florida. Might three of her most famous quotes shape our prayer time this morning? Read each. Pause quiet. Wait inspired. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" "Instructions for [...]
Happy New Year, my friend... I wake thinking to myself, "Yesterday, the last day of 2018, summed up well the peaks and the valleys of my entire year." Thinking back over your own yesterday, how did that one day encapsulate your whole year? Observation #1: I woke in Grayton Beach, Florida in the cozy home of a generous [...]
Good morning... "LORD!" he began our gathering reciting words from Christian mystic Evelyn Underhill. "Give me courage and love to open the door and contain You to enter, whatever the disguise You come in, enter before I fully recognize my guest." "Come in!" he whispered aloud. "Enter my small life." "Lay Your sacred hands on all the common [...]
Good morning... Our recent post, My Feelings Were Hurt, stepped on a very vulnerable nerve. So many responses came rushing in that I did not have the time to express gratitude to all of you individually. So this post is my collective "Thank you" for helping us to examine the bricks in the wall between our hurting hearts [...]
Good morning... December hosts a plethora of pop-up possibilities. On top of our regular commitments, we add gift buying, Christmas cards, and holiday visits. We pile on parties, special foods, and annual traditions. We struggle with people-pleasing, perfectionist tendencies, and performing our priorities with the greatest of ease. But December is not easy, December can be hard. Yet [...]
