Good morning... "So keep this refuge in mind: the back roads of your self." This Marcus Aurelius quote visits me like an old friend. Traveling the highway is rush hour, heavy traffic, efficiently direct. Exploring the back roads is slow moments, uplifting alone-time, freedom to meander. On the back roads of ourselves, God whispers through our rolled down [...]
Good morning... Amid this time of year with graduations, weddings, and special days dedicated to mothers and fathers, depression can creep in for some of us who feel depleted and disconnected, with high hopes and deep dreams derailed. I just read the obituary for Libby Wood, with this challenging sentence: "Sadly, she lost her battle with depression on [...]
Good morning... There are separating lines between us. From all sides, opposing forces jockey for power. Good and evil. Left and right. For and against. Us and them. Seen and unseen. Opposing forces exist also within, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn illuminates. “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor [...]
Good morning... "Ba-ba. Ba-ba," repeated our two year old neighbor as she came to visit our herd of guest sheep. Hosting ten sheep for about two weeks will be a really fun adventure. So far, the most intriguing thing has been to watch the nurturing qualities the flock has drawn out of our two dogs. Tate and Gracie [...]
Good morning... "The sheep are coming! The sheep are coming!" read yesterday's family text from my husband Steve. The fencing has been erected and the sign for John the shepherd's business is ready to be placed in our front yard. Today is the day our flock of sheep with arrive to take care of our overgrowth, our pesky [...]
Good morning... The chaplain team writes a devotional message for The Lovett School community each week. This past Monday, my husband Steve wrote a fun piece about the wisdom gleaned from a shepherd named John. ****** Chaplain's Message for May 1st, 2023 by Rev. Steve Allen Acts 2:42-47 • Psalm 23 • 1 Peter 2:19-25 • John 10:1-10 [...]
Good morning... Our Julie's Dream prayer team met by Zoom yesterday morning to pray over the lives of the inner city kids we take on trips to explore God's expansive creation. We prayed for the family of kids who recently witnessed their mother murdered by her boyfriend. We prayed for the talented trip leader from a neighboring non-profit [...]
Good morning... With our internet still out, I come to Starbucks to get service for the third day in a row. I pull out the brochure from our trip to Montgomery, Alabama and snap the photo above. I am struck by the fact that among all the informative words and haunting images, I am holding the pamphlet with [...]
Good morning... She texted me the photo above after enjoying yesterday's post, Power Drained Out Of Me. Having gone with her church to the Holy Land the day after our group returned from our trip in March, she wondered, "Did you guys go to this church (please don't ask me where) in Israel with this painting of the [...]
Good morning... Last night power drained out of me, as I taught a roomful of women at a nearby church. The requested topic? The Enneagram, an ancient personality test used by Christian mystics. My source of exhaustion? A new group of people, a plethora of information, tons of creative energy expended. The greatest grace experienced? Afterwards, I had [...]
