Good morning... "Good vines require cutting and more cutting," says Sr. Judith Sutera, a Benedictine nun and vinedresser. "A mile of runners won't give you one more grape, so get rid of the branches that do not bear fruit. Do you want to keep everything? Then expect nothing. Cut. And then cut some more." By nature, I am [...]
Good morning... Oops. My mistake. Our friend Betty Skinner turned 94-years-old yesterday, not Saturday as I jumped the gun and announced. Again I am humbly reminded, I am a big picture person, not a detail diva. Yet God now morphs my mistake into another opportunity. Kitty Crenshaw, co-author of the book we are studying this semester, The Hidden Life [...]
Good morning... "Many words rush along like rivers in flood, but deep wisdom flows up from artesian springs," says Proverbs 18:4 in The Message translation. "The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream," says Proverbs 18:4 in the New International Version. "The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters [copious [...]
Good morning... "Anyone who drinks water will soon become thirsty again," Jesus said to end yesterday's post. "But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life" (John 4:13-14, NLT). I am now drawn to the Message translation of verse 14. "Anyone who drinks [...]
Good morning... "She clung to the hope she could feel free and whole," says page 46 in The Hidden Life Awakened. "She understood, on some deep, barely conscious level, that if she would persevere and be patient with the pace of grace, God would finally show her the way to peace." As I read these words aloud in class, [...]
Good morning... She shared this multifaceted picture taken from her backyard. To my soul, this intriguing photo personifies the quote she also shared. ****** Life is amazing. And then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and the awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the [...]
Good morning... She was worried about her child and the repercussions of a poor decision. Filled with anger and anxiety, her heavy hurting heart pulled her into prayer. "God, please help me as I work with my son," she laid out each facet of fear. After pouring herself out to the very last drop, into her void came [...]
Good morning... "It’s the unknown which God's enemy uses to create fear, worry, anxiety," she quietly shared. Once we accept life as it is, uncertainty and all, we can face God's opponent saying with confidence, "You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done" [...]
Good morning... "God, why did I scarf down three cookies?" became my deep prayer after my impulsive episode. I must tell you, these were not tiny Girl Scout cookies. These three cookies were mammoth mommas. "What was going on in me?" Fear, worry, anxiety. I faced a hard phone call. I didn't know exactly what to say, how [...]
Good morning... "On this morning, if I can leave anything with you, let me urge you to be sure that you have a strong boat of faith," said Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on March 3rd, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Atlanta, Georgia. "The winds are going to blow. The storms of disappointment are coming. The [...]
