Good morning... Back to back devotional messages from Henri Nouwen keep me company this week. Both writings come from Nouwen's deeply personal book The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom. During my dad's 89th birthday week, it's hard to live far away from my aging parents in Ohio. All of our four grown kids [...]
Good morning... When my friend sent me the encouragement above, I simplified it down to action words and sent it out to a few dear friends. No matter what... stay focussed. Close to You... I find strength... to accomplish whatever is before me. Right now... choose... quiet... refocus... in Jesus. Amen. Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, [...]
Good morning... Friend #1 recently sent me this image which brings to life the quote: "Both fear and faith ask you to believe in something you can't see. You choose." "Hi Sue!" she commented. "I’ve never heard this before! It’s so simple but it’s 🎯." I totally agree. When hard things happen, we have a choice. Will we [...]
Good morning... "I have been wanting to respond," she emailed me from South Carolina after yesterday's post, Nuclear Bomb Of Depression. "And this morning everything bubbled up. However there are too many things, so I’ll list." Can someone really know good if they have not experienced REAL pain and hardship? - Anne Frank I just returned from Japan [...]
Good morning... Last week in class, we read aloud much of my favorite chapter in Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak. In a chapter entitled All the Way Down, Parker unpacks the most life-giving description of depression I have ever experienced. I posted some of his words yesterday in our blog Befriending Our Depression. Today, I feel drawn [...]
Good morning... "After hours of careful listening, my therapist offered an image that helped me eventually reclaim my life," writes Parker Palmer on page 50 of Let Your Life Speak. "You seem to look upon depression as the hand of an enemy trying to crush you," he said. "Do you think you could see it instead as the [...]
Good morning... As we wake on this early spring morning, how have you seen God at work this week? Look up. Smile. Thank. Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks [...]
Good morning... We all have been horrified at the mysterious abduction of Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy. On Easter morning, Savannah, co-host of the NBC's Today show, posted a gut-wrenching message expressing her deep sorrow and her unwavering belief. Suspended in uncertainty, her excruciating "not knowing" connects her to the utter darkness experienced by Jesus. ...Jesus cried out [...]
Good morning... Recently, my husband Steve and I hosted a Community Christian Seder. People from all walks of our lives over the past thirty years joined us to celebrate the Jewish tradition of Passover overlaid with the life-giving teachings of Jesus. What a meaningful evening we enjoyed together. As we know, Jesus himself was celebrating a Passover meal [...]
Good morning... "I have loved your recent posts," wrote a friend I have known since 2003. "Pictures of the DeShelters made me happy but sad too. Crazy how we hold those feeling so closely. Especially at Easter. Matt (the Director of Contemporary Worship at Northside Church) did Holy Forever on Easter Sunday. That was the song I was [...]
