LaTonya Takes Crates For Ukraine
Good morning... Two Saturdays ago, I received an unexpected phone call. "Sue, God laid you on my heart this morning," said LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids. "I am opening my guest room to a woman who is leaving a domestic violence situation. She needs a safe space to clear her head and make some important decisions. I want to pray over the space in my basement before she arrives. Would you [...]
Cut Free From Non-Essentials
Good morning... I rushed into a busy morning before God seemed to say, "Cut free." Cut free from non-essentials. Cut free from way too much. Cut free with clear permission. Just sit. Just rest. Just be. God's wispy whisper felt like a drop of water sinking into my thirsty sponge. This actually happened yesterday. "Cut free," surprised me, quiet and clear. So I turned my car around and drove directly home. Almost immediately four [...]
His Obit Makes It Real
Good morning... "The post is beautiful - just beautiful," my dear friend wrote after yesterday's message, When Our Strength Runs Out. "Seeing his obit in the paper this morning made it so real." She shared a red broken heart emoji. "It's a beautiful obituary," I texted back. "Simple. Straightforward. In keeping with his strong, loyal presence." My friend and I both love soup, so since the end of June I have been making [...]
When Our Strength Runs Out
Good morning... My dear friend's husband died on Sunday night after a long, excruciating battle with a rare disease. He was just sixty-four years old. I am grateful this friend turned me onto the brilliant work of author Kate Bowler. It gives me great comfort knowing we both savored this holy blessing as we woke yesterday. ****** A blessing for when the road is long by Kate Bowler God, I could not have [...]
The Emptiness Of Letting Go
Good morning... "After we let go, what do we do with our own emptiness?" a woman privately asked after my Let Go. Let God. talk with the Lovett Moms In Prayer. "Emptiness - we naturally feel it," I think I said. "Emptiness - we patiently endure it. Emptiness - we quietly wait for God to fill us." Ours was a short interaction. We were quickly interrupted. But her question stayed with me: "After [...]
Let Go. Let God.
Good morning... One of my favorite fall commitments, year after year, is speaking at the kickoff gathering for the Lovett School Moms In Prayer group. Yesterday around 8:00 am, about seventy-five of us collected in the Lovett scout hut to receive an encouraging word as we begin this new school year. I was kindly introduced. Sue Allen. Mom of four Lovett grads, 27, 25, 23, 21. Wife of Rev. Steve Allen, Lovett Upper [...]
Our Plans Are Like Magic Ink
Good morning... Many public schools here in the south began classes on August 1st. Some private schools and colleges began last week, while others begin today. I talked with my brother in Pennsylvania last night, and they don't start school until next Monday. When we grew up in Ohio, the new school year always began after Labor Day. Scattered all over our calendars, collectively we face a staggered start. Though start dates differ, [...]
Our Unexpected Gift
Good morning... I reminded her of a discerning truth we had learned together years ago. "When you are proceeding from good to better, you will experience God's touch as light and gentle, like a drop of water falling on a sponge," writes Larry Warner on page 153 in Journey With Jesus. If something is not right for now, it will feel 'like a drop of water hitting a stone.'" Then she read to [...]
Fall Classes 2022 – Join Us!
Good morning... This week I learned a fascinating fact. The biggest booster of dopamine, our brain’s feel-good neurotransmitter, is community. Life-giving relationships boost our spirits more than a brisk walk, a great meal or an awesome glass of wine! No wonder we can’t wait to return to our weekly classes offered through Northside Church. Every semester, I am prayerfully on the lookout for the book God chooses for us to discuss in our [...]
How To Help Ukraine
Good morning... "I'm going to Ukraine on the 29th," said LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids, as we sat together yesterday. "I'm excited about serving outside of our community. This 'Crates for Ukraine' project reaches so far outside of Grove Park to help people in great need." "What can we do to best support you?" I asked. "First. Please, please pray for us," she replied. "I, along with four other members from [...]
I Feel Up-In-The-Air
Good morning... "It's like a ton of confetti has been unleashed from above," I told a friend yesterday. "This week I feel like I am frozen in one of those celebratory photographs, looking up, wondering how all of these pieces of possibility will fall into place." I texted another friend: "Overwhelmed and excited describes how I feel as I drive down for our first gathering of the year at PAWkids." To share my [...]
One Rare Word, Twice
Good morning... This week I have run into one rare word twice, in the thought-provoking image above and in Henri Nouwen's meditation below. Pilgrimage. This is a fresh word found in my everyday life. "A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience," says Wikipedia. "It can [...]