Good morning... My parents in Ohio donated $25 to PAWkids (a non-profit in downtown Atlanta) in honor of 3-year-old Ludvig, who is battling cancer in Oslo, Norway. Wow, what an opening sentence - Ohio, Georgia, Norway. Look at God's creative web of connectivity! This seed money became a magnet for the generosity of many and, through individual donations [...]
Good morning... I have a dear friend who sends me wise quotes. During this time of great grief, she sent me two sacred sentences, filled with grace and tender with truth. She texted, "I think of a Stephen Curtis Chapman quote when they lost their daughter: 'We have been to the bottom and have found it to be [...]
"Good morning," she texted yesterday. "A little tired today," she continued. "Heartbroken for the families and community in Uvalde, Texas. Thinking about people like Steve (my husband, a chaplain) who are there - and everywhere - comforting families and friends reconciling loss, preparing words for services, walking in for visits." "This morning I am deep into Kate Bowler's [...]
Good morning... It can be hard to re-enter life's normal rhythm after being swept up into mountaintop moments. Personally, quietly, my re-entry has been rough. Sharing my truth, I found myself texting a friend in the middle of the night. "I am taking my time re-entering the rhythm of life following our ten day trip through Israel," I [...]
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she emailed me this week. "We are visiting Eastern Europe and were in Vukovar Croatia 🇭🇷 yesterday. There was a terrible civil battle there between the Croats and the Serbs in 1991 when Yugoslavia broke up. This Christ figure survived though the Serbian Orthodox Church of St Phillip and Jacob, where it had been, [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, I muted Gameday football to watch the funeral of a thirteen year old girl who died last week in a small engine plane crash at a nearby airport. Afterward, I sat in bed and quietly wept. How did each of her parents speak of their only child with such soulful eloquence? How did her pastor [...]
Good morning... The sun set on three lives in three days in my own personal corner of the world. Friday, the middle school daughter of a middle school teacher at our school tragically died in the crash of a small engine plane. Saturday, a lifelong friend who was in our wedding finished his grueling battle with ALS. Sunday, [...]
Good morning... We cannot fix, avoid or deny the pain of people in our community, but God can draw us near. We cannot say, do or express the perfect thing at the just right moment, but God can love through us. We cannot stop grief, tragedy or excruciating loss, but God can hold in our heart those stuck [...]
Good morning... Yesterday I woke in deep prayer for the families and friends of the two young fathers from our community who died in a horrific helicopter crash. As I waited for our microwave to heat up some day-old coffee, words from a hymn repeated often in our childhood church strangely sang up through the sorrow in my [...]
Good morning... "I have been out of touch but reading and connecting with you most mornings," she wrote. "I am so heartbroken and encouraged by the beautiful and tragic story of Eliza." "When I saw the title of your message I'll Walk Through The Valley," she continued, "I thought to myself, 'I haven’t heard that song in a [...]
