Good morning... Life-changing experiences shape us into our best selves, one checkmark after another. Let me tell you what I mean. We all know what a checkmark looks like, right? A descending line. Touching down to a bottom base before changing the trajectory of motion. The uptick of an ascending line growing to a higher level than ever [...]
Good morning... "It's bittersweet," my heart thinks as I quietly put away the mugs, the teas, the snack bowls that have rested regularly on our foyer table, welcoming women into our home week after week. "It is bittersweet to end another winter/spring season of learning." Yes, my schedule will breathe a little more freely and, yes, I will [...]
Good morning... Walking around the horse farm with my Friday morning friend, I heard myself say, "Knowing our Enneagram number helps us to become more consciously aware of our True Self as we grow to become more and more like Christ." At that very moment, I looked down and saw a perfect heart-shaped rock. Picking it up and [...]
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... This morning in extra measure my soul lifts loving prayers for 93-year-old Betty Skinner. Today she and loved ones will lay to rest Bryant B. Skinner, Sr., a lifelong resident of Jacksonville, Florida, who died on March 10, 2019 at the age of 96. As Bryant's obituary reads: "He married Betty Walthour of Birmingham, AL, in 1948. They [...]
Good morning... As I flipped through my stack of favorite books for yesterday's post, I found my way back to two pages I love. The story of a tulip encourages us as we wait beneath the dark soil of not seeing, not knowing, not understanding exactly what God is growing in us. The beauty of spring popping in [...]
Good morning... With this Scripture verse ending yesterday's post we sense our True Self coming up like jonquils out of fallen snow: May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality] (Ephesians 3:16, AMP). I [...]
Good morning... "Beneath or inside the life we lead every day is another life," says the John Tarrant quote in the notes I borrowed from our 93-year-old friend, Christian mystic Betty Skinner. For years Betty used these notes to facilitate spiritual retreats on the Enneagram, the ancient study of the nine basic types of people. Now as I [...]
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... Yesterday morning, I received a copy of the heartfelt letter Rev. Bill Britt sent to congregants from nearby Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. Here are some of the highlights. General Conference of the United Methodist Church has ended. In the last hour of the final session, delegates approved the "Traditional Plan" - the General Conference has [...]
