Good morning... The sentence that flavored my first week of Lent came from a friend who said, "For Lent, I am giving up trying." Trying to fix. Trying to win. Trying to force. Trying to define. Trying to direct. Trying to appease. Trying to control. Trying to predict. Trying to impress. Trying to persuade. Trying to understand. Trying [...]
Good morning... After a deep, heartfelt conversation, she said, "For Lent, I am giving up trying." I thought to myself, "That's a weird thing to say." At first. Then the thought strangely returned to me. Then again. And quietly, just now, again. As I sit still with her phrase in the middle of the night, I begin to [...]
Good morning... Walking the familiar sidewalk into our backyard, I noticed a yellow blossom at rest on a bed of dying brown. I lifted my eyes to see extravagant buds all over the sprawling vine. This was the day I noticed anew, "Everything is changing." What "used to be" is dying, [...]
Good morning... There are times when the world we knew and loved comes to an end. Life as it used to be is over. Cherished comfort is lost. The unknown unnerves us. Even Jesus himself knows how it feels. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My [...]
Good morning... As I woke in the middle of the night, I opened an amazing gift which has been many years in the making. I watched the touching talk seventeen-year-old Audrey DeShelter shared with a large audience at a recent fundraiser for the fight against childhood cancer. Audrey has been the focus of a handful of our blog [...]
Good morning... "Transitions are gaps," writes Margaret Silf on page 20 of The Other Side of Chaos. "They mark the gap between the no longer and the not yet. They are the space where we are neither in one place nor another, the hiatus between everything we knew and all that lies ahead in the unknowable future. They [...]
Good morning... As I let our little dog outside in the middle of this cold, dark night, my ears breathe in the music of our loudly dancing windchimes. Unseen. Untethered. Uncontrollable. The mystery of Movement plays all around me. My mind drifts to thoughts of yesterdays and yesteryears. I call to mind my music; it keeps me company [...]
Good morning... When I am processing loss and grief, I often search for a soulful symbol to give voice to my struggle. After dropping off used items at a consignment store late Thursday afternoon, I quietly browsed the aisles. I was drawn to the silver bracelet above, one of a kind and 75% off. To me, each of [...]
Good morning... "Hi Sue," a friend wrote. "I thought you would like to see what some loving friends placed in the Johnson's front yard yesterday. People are adding to it as they feel led to show their love for Kaitlyn and her family, share in their grief and hold on to the hope and promise of the Lord's [...]
Good morning... I happened upon a book and felt drawn to a handful of words. ****** Excerpt from Poems from the Thin Places by Monica R. Lavia "My peace I give you," said Jesus. I want that. Not the kind of peace that is the opposite of war, but the kind of peace that is the opposite of [...]
