Good morning... When we feel snapped in half by the storms of life, the light of our living LORD continues to rise each morning and to set each night. At every time and in every place— from the moment the sun rises to the moment the sun sets— may the name of the Eternal be high in the hearts of His people (Psalm 113:3, [...]
Good morning... Three nights past the new moon, I happen upon an illuminating quote. “I always wondered why it took 'three days' for significant things to happen in the Bible," writes Barbara Brown Taylor in Learning to Walk in the Dark. "Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale, Jesus spent three days in the tomb, [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I return a loving text to a dear, dear friend who feels absolutely heartbroken and helpless. Next, I open an email from another grieving friend. Her words express divine wisdom we all so desperately crave. "This just came to me," she writes, "from author Ross Gay." What happens if [...]
Good morning... Discussing our constant need for prayer, one friend paraphrased a Max Lucado quote like this: "Anxieties, fears and regrets land on our windshield but then comes the wiper of prayer that causes them to depart." Later, another friend shared with us the exact quote in its entirety. ****** Let God In by Max Lucado When we [...]
Good morning... Our weekly Thursday class decided to meet monthly in this summer season. As we gathered last week, one of the women shared a page from a devotional book she loves. She read the following words to us aloud, before we unpacked our thoughts as a group. The word "standby" [...]
Good morning... As my friend has been processing her extraordinary grief, she texted a sentence that touched my heart. "I just saw a quote," she wrote. "The pain is the leftover love you don't get to give." Fires, floods, feuds. Loss, lethargy, loneliness. Death, disasters, depression. Cancer, callousness, calamity. Betrayals, breakups, bombings. Accidents, addictions, Alzheimers. There are so [...]
Good morning... “When morning gilds the skies…” This familiar hymn, singing in my head, stirs me from my sleep. Instinctively, I look out the open window and shoot one photo through the screen. The word gild comes alive as the dark early morning sky is embellished with golden light from the moon and the stars. Then, I tiptoe [...]
Good morning... Another loyal friend, a daily blog reader and longtime Northside Church member, wrote to me recently, sharing the photo above, offering a tribute to Audrey DeShetler who went to heaven in June. ****** Audrey's Race Is Won by Vilda Brennan About 10 years ago, I took a course called Soul Collage. I loved the concept of [...]
Good morning... I stepped out of our front door and noticed the rising sun casting indirect light on a brand new summer day. Stepping down slowly, I moved in awe toward the warm Source of all light. Then I looked up and saw a beautiful spider web, set [...]
Good morning... On Sunday, we began this 4th of July week with my husband Steve preaching at the little Log Cabin Community Church, just around the corner from our home. What are the two things I remember most about the welcoming, down-to-earth service? First, the worship leader, she quietly prayed for "the vulnerable and the voiceless." So many [...]
