Good morning... Hurricane hell. Deep depression. Open heart surgery. Harsh cancer treatment. War and terror. Division, divorce, and death. Darkness seems to seep into every crevice of our wounding world. "The power of God's promise stunned me so much that I actually gasped out loud," writes Kay Warren on page 105 of Choose Joy. I will give you [...]
Good morning... Audrey DeShetler has been living with neuroblastoma since she was five and a half years old. Now she is a freshman at Notre Dame, loving her new friends and her college experience. "She is doing so well at ND," her mom wrote yesterday. "She has a group of friends who include her in everything. They have [...]
Good morning... During class yesterday, we read aloud Kay Warren's words on page 107 in Choose Joy. "But the reality is, this is earth, not heaven. Sin, pain, illness, loss, separation, grief, mental illness, financial ruin, death, and a whole host of other terrible circumstances happen on a daily basis, and each of us needs to prepare for [...]
Good morning... For many people, today is a day off. In local school districts, it is fall break. For others, it is the Canadian Thanksgiving. For still others, today is called "Indigenous Peoples' Day." "Indigenous Peoples' Day is a holiday in the United States that celebrates and honors Indigenous American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures," explains [...]
Good morning... "Hi Sue," a longtime friend wrote to me this week. "Your blog about The Coffee Cup Analogy reminds me of something I heard on the radio years ago. The doctor (a psychologist, I believe) said your brain is like a bathtub, and genetics plays a role in the size of bathtub you have. When we encounter [...]
Good morning... Friday, November 15th has been excitedly filled in on my calendar for a very long time. My dear friend Dr. Cathy Snapp, Director of Behavioral Sciences and Professor at the Medical College of Georgia, will be one of the keynote speakers at the "Finding Peace of Mind" symposium hosted at The Carter Center. Then yesterday, I [...]
Good morning... Taking our dogs outside in the middle of this night, all is calm, all is dark. Instinctively, I turn toward the south and lift prayers for the lives being ravaged in Florida by the drenching winds and the storm surge of Hurricane Milton. Prayer. What does prayer do at a time like this? I lift prayers [...]
Good morning... The bottom fell out of the sky last week, as Hurricane Helene's flooding rains and devastating winds upended normal life for many in Georgia and for our neighbors in surrounding states. These photos show the impact across our nearby neighborhood. The delicious Canoe restaurant, where we often enjoy happy hour beside the Chattahoochee River. Across the [...]
Good morning... Arriving from different places, at different times, embodying different life stages, our group of twelve made it to Sarria, Spain. At our kick-off dinner, we were both wildly excited and completely exhausted from crowded travel and a six hour time change. For about eight hours we flew [...]
Good morning... After reading yesterday's blog post, My Dad's Handwritten Note, a church friend from a while back wrote from miles away, sharing a story about her own father. Now up in the middle of the night the nearly full moon beckons me to the couch. "Sit. Stay put. Savor her tender, touching words." "Northside will always be [...]
