Good morning... I love the rhythm of our Women's Ministry at Northside Church. We enjoy a fertile fall semester and a wonderful winter/spring semester, then, for the summer, we channel all of our study and our service opportunities into a few awesome options. Our weekly summer reading group begins at 10:00 am on Wednesday, June 3rd. Our first [...]
Good morning... One thing that has lifted my spirits this year is the act of spring cleaning. My friend Elizabeth has begun a small decluttering business, and she used me as her guinea pig. Here is what she wrote up about our hands-on experience. ****** Most of us slowly grow blind to our clutter. We walk around it—or [...]
Good morning... As a kid, I remember the summer season starting Memorial Day weekend, as we finished the school year, and ending on Labor Day weekend, before we returned to school. Now as an adult, I wonder, "When does summer really begin?" Googling the question I learn a few new things. Actually, the summer season can be tracked [...]
Good morning... Bursting on bare branches and decorating brown decay, vibrant green is everywhere! After weeks of thick yellow pollen and before the return of those pesky mosquitos, this weekend is perfectly positioned to exude joy and new life. Amidst blooming azaleas, towering pines and flowering dogwoods, the first full week of April always ushers in the Masters [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, at the exact perfect moment, we discussed the final two chapters of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. Today, we wake up to the first official day of spring. Just like that, we melt from one season into the next. Katherine has this to say on the last [...]
Good morning... Typically, for the classes I teach, our winter/spring semester concludes just before Holy Week. This winter, with Easter being so early, our final classes are scheduled for the last week of March. "We don't want to end that early," my Thursday class protested. "Can we do another book together in the month of April?" I agreed [...]
Good morning... As I took our puppy out to do her business this morning, I looked up and the moon was half gone. How could that be? Just a short time ago, the big ball was full and bright, the exquisite handiwork of God. A friend actually sent me this fascinating Instagram post about the February full moon. [...]
Good morning... This harsh winter has been the perfect season for us to be reading Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. On page 68, Wintering "...offers us a cyclical metaphor for life, one in which the energies of spring arrive again and again, nurtured by the deep retreat of winter. We [...]
Good morning... In our therapeutic community group at PAWkids last Tuesday, we used watercolor paints to bring this poem to life. ****** Grief Is Like A Snowflake... sometimes it comes one flake at a time; other times, it comes like a blizzard. It melts away, but it always comes back. Just as each snowflake is unique, each person [...]
Good morning... Before the winter storm blasted much of our country this weekend, I received the above image from Wisconsin. Inside, 60 degrees. Outside, negative 30, and that's without windchill! "What does negative 30 actually feel like?" I wondered. Then the winter weather arrived, and images came blowing in from family and friends. A shiny hard layer of [...]
