Good morning... I looked out my window and I saw eyes staring back at me. In the middle of the day from three feet away, dark eyes locked with mine. Eyes, no neck, and perfectly quaffed feathers, an eighteen inch owl was perched on my porch. We looked at each other for a very long time. Motionless. Peaceful. Soul [...]
Good morning... Having recently been through a life-changing loss she wrote: "Over the years I have collected matches from different places, playing cards, ski passes...all reminders of precious moments and places with my loved ones. And now, as I am going through so many things and having to/wanting to get rid, these collectibles have become painful reminders of a [...]
Good morning... Today I begin teaching my weekly classes, one class per day. In addition, this fall I am forming monthly "Listening Groups," small groups of no more than eight women seeking to hear God's movement in our daily lives. One group I am offering is called "Practicing Prayer," the other is "Savoring Scripture." Since I am a visual [...]
Good morning... One of the books we are studying in my living room this semester is Margaret Silf's The Other Side of Chaos: Breaking Through When Life Breaks Down. On pages 5 and 6, we read: "Transitions make you ache everywhere. They make you ache, in every joint and muscle and in every brain cell, and in every fiber [...]
Good morning... I was on an elliptical machine in the hotel fitness room in Asheville, N.C. when my phone signaled her group text. Throughout the day, five of us Bible study friends had been texting support, encouraging our friend whose ten year old daughter was undergoing her six month scans for the cancer she has battled for the past five [...]
Good morning... As I deepen into my Spiritual Direction training program, I find myself marinating in the wise words of Dallas Willard found in The Divine Conspiracy. Here are some favorites quotes I have gathered in my notes. "The cure for too-much-to-do is solitude and silence, for there you find you are safely more than what you do. And [...]
Good morning... He said to me, "If I really want to talk with and listen to God, I have to get away with Him privately, for a big chunk of time." He likened it to my husband and me, "If you really want to talk with and listen to Steve, you would not do it in a crowded room [...]
Good morning... With some people, it feels like a sin to "ask." Asking a question is like challenging authority. Asking for clarification means you are a bother. Asking about options can complicate matters and prolong a decision. With some people, asking for anything cracks the surface of their status quo and anger oozes out, messy and mean. This weekend, [...]
Good morning... At times, we must let go to grow. This fact is hard but true, we need to let go of much loved people and priorities all along life's way. Growth can be the byproduct of making difficult decisions. Recently, my fourteen year old son learned this tough truth personally. After going to summer camp for the past [...]
Talking at a local church, I said, “Prayer is a form of rumination.” Rumination is what cows do. They chew on food, burp it back up, then chew on it more to extract maximum nutritional benefit. When we pray, we chew on feelings and thoughts, burp them back up, then chew on them some more to extract maximum nutritional [...]
