Good morning... Words I wrote last winter, pre-programmed again in May, and re-posted again this summer, minister to me now. "The definition of holiness–in a nutshell–means being set apart to purity, to be like God,” says blogger Shana Schutte. “And the result of holiness, of God transforming us to make us more like Him, is outrageous joy, amazing peace, [...]
"I trust that God is at work in me. I feel His presence. I sense God changing me, softening my heart." She continued, "But trusting that God is also at work in other people, that's my biggest challenge." By nature, we want to save and to fix, to make peace and to control. It is hard for us to [...]
Good morning… I just got up from my morning ritual of quiet time with God and my open Bible, a random pen and my current journal. For my spiritual direction training program, our cohort of classmates has been walking slowly through Larry Warner's book Journey with Jesus, an adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Exercises written to [...]
Good morning... Yesterday Ben DeShetler's Caring Bridge post was short, simple, smiling: "Still NED! In case you haven't heard, Audrey is still NED!!! We are still waiting on the bone marrow results but they said probably not to worry. I'll post more later as I find out." On 4.13.17, my "Fab 5 friends" post told the story of my [...]
Good morning... The joy and pain of being a writer is an incessant obsession with choosing the perfect word. It is hard for my mind to rest when my soul continues to wonder, "What changes might make my final tweet truer, better, more impactful?" So it did not surprise me that after yesterday's post, I spent some time pondering, [...]
Good morning... "Please transform my desires," I hear my deepest self say. "Please transform my desires into Your desires." I desire love. I desire power. I desire beauty. I desire wealth. I desire comfort. "LORD, help me to rest in Your love, Your power, Your beauty, Your wealth, Your comfort. Gradually surrendering more of me to more of You, [...]
Good morning... Betty Skinner walked slowly from the rugged valley of clinical depression up toward the mountaintop of joyful oneness with God. How did she do it? Betty took one healing step at a time. Solitude. Silence. Contemplative prayer. Eating well. Journaling thoughts. Creating art and poetry. Focusing on life's positives. Talking honestly with others. Enjoying long walks outside [...]
Good morning... In seven short Bible verses, we move from the freedom of our true self, Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame, (Genesis 2:25) to the covering of our false self, Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and [...]
Good morning... I am not sure we have ever had a more meaningful discussion than yesterday's talk in our young moms' class. We talked about prayer. About praying earnestly and not always getting what we want. How do we sort out what God is up to? When do we arrive at our tipping point, where our personal will is [...]
Good morning... With God we begin each day. God directs. We reflect. We connect. God perfects. He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness” (2 Corinthians [...]
