The more we pray, talking honestly with God about the challenges of our daily lives, the more we want to pray. Somehow our creative release is met with a peace that passes human understanding and we are empowered to do the next hard thing. When another difficulty presents itself, we find ourselves praying sooner and more passionately, and God [...]
Good morning... My most recent daily blog post was sent out four days ago. Then I hit a computer snag and sent you an email entitled: "Technical Difficulties - Will Return When Fixed." Over the years, I have grown to believe that computer snags and technical difficulties often occur when God is fighting to get our attention. For our struggle [...]
Good morning... "Significant doers draw from a well of quietness before God," writes author and spiritual director Jan Johnson. "For example, Amy Carmichael was a single missionary to India who received temple prostitutes, eventually establishing a home and school for them. She also wrote this: 'Give much time to quietness. We have to get our help for the most [...]
Good morning... Two weeks ago I ran out of gas. Completely embarrassed, I did not mention it to you before now. What almost-fifty-five-year-old runs out of gas? Then in the title of yesterday's post, God sparked the word "fueled" and I remembered my recent experience of literally running out of fuel. I had had one of those weeks. Drained [...]
Good morning... She wrote me a short, sweet reply after yesterday's post, The Prayers Of A Child, in which I presented this pondering point, "Thinking back on yourself as a child, what regular rituals may have been your first forms of prayer?" "In response to today's blog. . . playing Jacks on the smooth, cool, shaded concrete front porch of [...]
Good morning... When I was a little girl growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, I remember a regular summertime ritual. I would make myself a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and enjoy a private picnic, perched on a mossy patch between two bushes, beside a tiny ditch of trickling water. I would daydream and dawdle. Looking. Listening. Lounging. Fresh air [...]
Good morning... "I remember feeling pregnant with twins," she wrote me after yesterday's post, I Feel Pregnant With Quadruplets. "My husband would ask how I felt each day and my answer was always, "Heavy, I feel heavy." Not "I feel fat," but "I feel heavy." Heavy from the physical load on my body and heavy from the emotional load [...]
Good morning... Last week, I held my head like a 9-month-pregnant belly. My spiritual director said, "I have never seen you do that before, holding you head with both hands like you are trying to keep it from exploding." It's true. I felt like my brain could burst at any time with all the doubling daily details. This spring, [...]
Good morning... In the midst of his suffering on the cross, Jesus dropped his words into the pool of prayer. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last, (Luke 23:46, NIV). In other translations, Jesus' words read, "Father, I entrust my spirit into [...]
Good morning... "Many voices ask for our attention," whispers Henri Nouwen's 1.13.18 morning meditation. "There is a voice that says, 'Prove that you are a good person.' Another voice says, 'You'd better be ashamed of yourself.' There is also a voice that says, 'Nobody really cares about you,' and one that says, 'Be sure to become successful, popular, and [...]
