Good morning... "Hi Sue!" On Saturday, the Retreat and Program Director texted me from Ignatius House Retreat Center. "Our next ISP overnight retreat is September 9-10. Let me know if your group is available to make 15 welcome bags." "Yes, we are happy to create bags," I texted immediately. Then I reached out to a friend who generously [...]
Good morning... Fall begins to form slowly, like the rising of the sun. A commitment here. An activity there. The calendar starts to fill. On Sunday morning at Northside Church, I spoke in all three of our worship services, inviting women of all ages and stages to explore our friendly schedule of fall offerings. My notes from that [...]
Good morning... "I grew up with a mom who often overreacted," said my friend, as we talked to and from the horse farm. "She would blow up over the littlest thing." Now my friend finds herself wrestling with the same impulsive tendency. "I'm trying to learn to PAUSE more," she explained, "like the Bible verse about being quick [...]
Good morning... Overwhelmed by heavy emotions, she said, "I don't know whether to keep things to myself (which usually leads to me eventually blowing up) or to talk out my feelings, telling my husband exactly how I feel (which often hurts his feelings)." After pondering her difficult dilemma, I said, "I wonder if there is a third choice. [...]
Good morning... Whenever I think of July 2025, two words will always come to mind. Grief and Galapagos. In June, the daughter of my dear friend, Audrey DeShetler, went to heaven the day before her twentieth birthday. Then, within the same week, our family put to sleep our beloved dog, Tate. Both Audrey and Tate battled cancer. Both [...]
Good morning... I have been delightfully out of cell service for 90 percent of the past three days. Traveling with my husband on his new venture with the Lovett School, we have loved bonding with our group of sixteen, mostly strangers who are becoming fast friends. Steve is creating of an adult trip program, and I get to [...]
Good morning... Up in the darkness of this night, I pull out yesterday's funeral bulletin to revisit my own handwriting. "Grief is the shadow side of love," said our pastor in his message. It's true, isn't it? What we love, and lose, we grieve. What we deeply, deeply love, we deeply, deeply grieve. Resting in the shadow of [...]
Good morning... Every year, all of our weekly studies for women funnel into one summertime study, hosted on Zoom in June and July. This year, the first book chosen (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence) was highlighted in one of our books for the spring, Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer. On page [...]
Good morning... Beneath tonight's full moon, my mind is filled with prayers for the recovering women safely sleeping at the Ignatius House Retreat Center. I don't know them by name and I will never meet them on earth, but I know they are precious in the sight of our Lord. Recovering from homelessness and addiction, I imagine that [...]
Good morning... On Sunday afternoon, thirteen of us returned home from our life-giving time away at Heritage Retreat Center, having shared a blessed weekend as Strangers Became Friends. Our group text string has been poppin' all week, bursting with fun photos, good wishes, and kind words. [...]
