Good morning... "Most days I eat breakfast and/or lunch on my back porch. Our dogs sit at my feet or play in the yard. The big sky opens wide to offer art lessons. Trees and leaves slow-dance with the breeze. Birds and butterflies, squirrels and chipmunks, all God's creatures frolic in freedom. Fresh air fills my lungs and rejuvenates [...]
Good morning... Georgia O'Keefe once said astutely, "In a way, nobody sees a flower really, it is so small, we haven't time --- and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time." It takes time to see, to befriend, and to discern the voice of God. Scripture says it this way: “Let me set this before [...]
Good morning... As she nestled into the monastery for a weekend retreat, my friend read these framed words on the wall. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation and be notorious. - Rumi By nature, she plays it safe. She heeds the warning signs of her fears. Her reputation has taken a long time to [...]
Good morning... As many of you know, I am in the middle of a Spiritual Direction training program and the dense, intense reading is very hard for me. With my dyslexic, ADD brain, I read slowly and I struggle with comprehension. Unlike many of you avid readers, I cannot read for thirty minutes, do another task, then return to [...]
Good morning... Instinctively, we know, "It's time to slow down." For me, tangible indicators begin to pile up. 1) Often we get sick. Itchy ears. Scratchy throat. Fever and cough precede complete congestion. A full blown fall cold invaded my body last week. 2) Loved ones notice our need. As I scurried around last weekend, my husband said, "You [...]
Good morning... Emailing about the importance of our morning devotionals, she discovered a typo. Writing "mooring" instead of "morning" and she marveled at her mistake. "Wow - this is an accidental typo - but mooring is a good word. Choosing to cut from my regular schedule to make sure I had time to keep things in order at home [...]
Good morning... We wait in solitude and silence, beginning to feel God's answers emerging. Dallas Willard recommends, "Stay there long enough for the inner being to be different. Muddy water becomes clear if you only let it be still for a while." (The Divine Conspiracy, p 359) Dallas reveals an interesting phenomenon. I google: "How does still water become [...]
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... "I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own room," astutely observed Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal in the 1600's. Oddly, staying quietly in my own room was always my favorite form of discipline as a child. When I was reeling and wound [...]
