Good morning... I discovered a poem which means more to me this Valentine's Day than ever before. With my mom's surgeries and hospital stays, with our friend's successful heart transplant, and with the grueling medical treatments endured by so many loved ones this year, I have marveled at the gentle care given by skilled professionals. For all of [...]
Good morning... Last Monday afternoon and last Friday morning in our Self to Lose, Self to Find classes, we read the book excerpts highlighted in yesterday's post, How Our True Self Grows. In between these two discussions of a fascinating "seed" analogy, on Wednesday night I taught our young mom's class at church. As we explored the introduction [...]
Good morning... At 7:15 pm, her text came in with the image above and these two sentences: "Friend just shared this. I know you'll love it!!!!!!" She's right. I love it. Sometimes it hurts to open our eyes. Sometimes taking a deep breath feels impossible. Sometimes it's really hard to move our feet from the bed to the [...]
Good morning... Yesterday's student Sunday at Northside Church was quite special. Kids I have seen grow up over the years played major roles in all three services. Audrey DeShelter shared the pastoral prayer, which felt beautifully reciprocal. Ongoing prayer support is one of the best gifts, given and received, when we are deeply connected to our church family. [...]
Good morning... Her blog post was sobering, surrendering, soul-touching. Sifting through a pile of powerful words, she unleashed life-giving song lyrics, "Don't waste today being scared of tomorrow." ****** Excerpt from Elizabeth's PostHope blog post, February 1, 2024 Too much heaviness. Too much weight. Too much pain. Too much fear. Too much wondering. Too much waiting. Too much [...]
Good morning... I met a humble, hopeful prayer. ****** P R AY E R by Grahame Davies Spirit, use me today, not in some miracle that would make others marvel and would make me proud. Not in the word of wisdom that would stay in the mind and make me always remembered. Not in the heroic act that [...]
Good morning... I slowly walked in silence on a damp, dreary day. Mysteriously mirroring the wider world, everything around felt muddy, muted, mournful. As I continued my silent stroll, I noticed a unique, yellow tree. Amid the gray decay, it felt like my burning bush. Much like Moses, [...]
Good morning... "For today, and all days needed," she texted me this poem. ****** LET YOURSELF REST If you’re exhausted, rest. If you don’t feel like starting a new project, don’t. If you don’t feel the urge to make something new, just rest in the beauty of the old, the familiar, the known. If you don’t feel like [...]
Good morning... "Looking forward to what this new year holds," I wrote to end my text. "I am as well..." she replied from California. "Full moon tonight out here and clear skies with loads of stars. Easy to be in awe of the power of the Spirit and God's plan with this sky." "We forget sometimes," she added. [...]
Good morning... This week in our therapeutic community group at PAWkids, we were encouraged to pick a handful of cards, cards that somehow share our story. The five cards above are the cards I felt drawn to choose, arranging them just so. Take a moment. Really look. Now let's feel our way forward, down and out. Pondering the [...]
