Good morning... You are like me. Imperfect. Improving. Intimately to connected to God, Self, and others. As an online community, we bring our whole selves out from the isolating dark, where negatives develop, into the light of God's redeeming love. I enjoy taking time on Sundays to savor where we have been, reviewing the spiritual baby steps we [...]
Good morning... As we gathered for the last time this semester for our Monthly Spiritual Growth Group, I read aloud from my heavily underlined copy of The Hidden Life Awakened. Sharing from pages 130 and 131, I highlighted the spiritual growth of our spiritual mentor 93-year-old Betty Skinner. "All of this inner work was gradually bringing Betty to [...]
Good morning... "My dear Sue," she wrote. "I did not respond to your 'crazy' message as I was proudly basking in the light of a perfectly celebrated Easter weekend with our children and grandchildren. I was quickly brought back to reality when I received a text from our daughter blaming me for her daughter being sick at school [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's post I was grateful to sense the fruits of God's Spirit growing early on my Easter Sunday branch, as I heeded Betty Skinner's wisdom: "The big 'I' must die." Twenty-four hours later, I realized my big "I" had not died, instead my big "I" was crouching inside, keeping score. Let me explain. Two minutes [...]
Good morning... I noticed Easter power rising in me twelve hours early. Let me explain just what I mean. At noon on Saturday, I sat on our couch folding load after load of warm, clean laundry. I had enjoyed a conversation with each of our two college-aged daughters home for the holiday weekend and our seventeen-year-old son who [...]
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 [...]
