Good morning... This summer, our Northside Church family is making 200 bagged lunches on Mondays and 200 bagged lunches on Wednesdays and taking them to PAWkids to share with our friends in the Grove Park neighborhood. For three Mondays in a row, I have joined in the fun, tangibly connecting with my two favorite non-profit organizations. [...]
Good morning... Well, two things can be true. First, after playing terribly and losing 4-1 to Belgium in last night's game, the USA soccer team will not win the 2026 World Cup. Second, I love a creative commercial which brings to life our high hopes as a hosting nation. Stepping over the division, controversy, and corruption running rampant, [...]
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... As the moonlight waxing on our bathroom floor silently adds more and more and more, I revisit the words we read aloud in class. ****** Excerpt from the introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer A few years ago, I woke up one morning with a line running through my [...]
Good morning... We began this semester studying one book, Wintering by Katharine May. To our surprise, we will end this semester studying a second book, Parker Palmer's new 25th anniversary edition of Let Your Life Speak. We did not plan this expansion into more, but the seamlessness of these oddly orange book covers, set side by side, offers [...]
Good morning... As we learn to see the larger and deeper grace cushioning life's harsher blows, we allow the Spirit's teachings to take deeper root in us. When the power of the Eternal assumes center stage in our daily lives, the veil between earth and heaven gradually thins. "I love this sentence of yours..." a friend wrote after [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's post Little Eliza's Cancer, I explained how our Wednesday group has formed a web of prayer around our classmate Cathy, her granddaughter Eliza, and Eliza's young family, as she continues to journey with cancer as a four year old. One pastel streaked morning last week, I sent our group the Rally Foundation video of [...]
Good morning... Last weekend, while watching a string of great football games, I noticed on all of the players' helmets two simple words: CHOOSE LOVE. Wondering the meaning behind this conscious decision, I googled, "choose love on football helmets" and this information popped up. "Choose Love" on NFL helmets and in end zones is a message of compassion, [...]
Good morning... What Is Your Star Word? we asked in yesterday's post, a single word guiding you into the living presence of the Christ child, Emmanuel, God-with-us. For 2026, my star word is SIMPLIFY. The Dictionary.com definition reads: "to make less complicated, clearer, or easier." Clarify. Cut down. Reduce. Shorten. Streamline. SIMPLIFY. We live in a complicated world [...]
Good morning... After waking from my second sleep, I re-read our post crafted in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Born To Be With Us. Our blog ended with this truth: "Amid all of the tremendous tragedies we face along our journey, from life through death into eternal life with God, Jesus was born to be beside us." [...]
