Women’s Lenten Lunch And Learn
Good morning... It is as if we have endured two long years of winter, holed up inside this worldwide pandemic. Signs of spring are starting to show. Buds of new life are bursting free. As many of you know, for years we have hosted at Northside Church our annual Women’s Lenten Communion Service the Tuesday night before Ash Wednesday. Since 2007 (minus 2021), we have packed out a sacred space in the church [...]
Another Grieving Family
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I explore various accounts of the skiing accident that took the life of 27-year-old Rad Spencer who grew up in our Atlanta community. Along with our oldest son and his Lovett friends, Rad and his buddies from Westminster went through confirmation, Sunday school, and youth group together. Celebrating his life in a service today, Rad's family and friends will forever miss him deeply. His [...]
Let’s Walk Grief’s Path Together
Good morning... "Look at the little monument God inspired me to tuck amid the ferns you taught me to grow outside our wooden gate," I texted my friend who will lay to rest her forty-three year old son today. "This little resting angel is a symbol of him living on with God, just beyond the open window of our conscious awareness. You, my dear, are in my prayers." "And here is [...]
What Is Mine To Do?
Good morning... "Thanks for going yesterday," I texted a friend after her first visit to PAWkids as a homework helper. "I would love to unpack your feelings about the experience. Would be good for me to understand how you feel at Wellspring in comparison. (My friend also volunteers at Wellspring, a non-profit whose mission is to transform the lives of sex trafficking victims.) Learning 'What is mine to do?' is such an important [...]
We Receive As We Give
Good morning... Yesterday was a joyful whirlwind of receiving much as we gave our little. Providing a beautiful breakfast for one hundred inner city teachers at KIPP Woodson Park Academy, hearing stories of the tears of joy shed by the elderly recipients of our fun filled 100 Valentine's Day gift bags, and helping to host a Valentine's Day party for the twenty elementary aged students in the afternoon enrichment program at PAWkids, what [...]
This Day Is Special
Good morning... "I have another idea that you could possibly help me with," Larenzia Lawerence from PAWkids texted me last week. "So, I wanted to do some gifts for seven outstanding teachers at KIPP Woodson Park, five women and two men. They help the kids in our after school program so much. I can see in their eyes that they are getting tired and worn out, so I want to encourage them each [...]
At Home In My Own Skin
Good morning... "Years ago, someone told me that humility is central to the spiritual life," writes Parker Palmer on page seventy of Let Your Life Speak. "That made sense to me: I was proud to be humble! But this person did not tell me that the path to humility, for some of us at least, goes through humiliation, where we are brought low, rendered powerless, stripped of pretenses and defenses, and left feeling [...]
I Feel So Alone
Good morning... "God cares," she quietly responded after yesterday's post Does Anyone Care? "This is beautiful, Sue. I feel so alone right now and need to be reminded that I am never alone. Thank you." God's living Word carried on our conversation. "You are right," I emailed back. "God cares. God loves you relentlessly, forever and always. You have heard the truth of God’s living Word. The Spirit of God dwells in you, [...]
Does Anyone Care?
Good morning... This week I happened upon a powerful quote by Madeleine Delbrêl. "Once we have heard God’s Word, we no longer have the right not to accept it; once we have accepted it, we no longer have the right not to let it become flesh in us; once it has become flesh in us, we no longer have the right to keep it for ourselves alone. Henceforward, we belong to all those [...]
100 Valentine’s Day Gifts
Good morning... Our written word community is beautifully living out the joy of 2 Corinthians 9:7 (CEB): Everyone should give whatever they have decided in their heart. They shouldn’t give with hesitation or because of pressure. God loves a cheerful giver. We were given a fun invitation by LaTonya Gates, the founder and director of PAWkids. "Sue, everyone loved the 100 gift bags you and your friends made at Christmas. Now might you [...]
What Makes You Come Alive?
Good morning... A few Sundays back, we circled up in a dear friend's lovely living room for our monthly book discussion of Anchored In The Current. Right now in the wee hours of the night, I am drawn back to some of the words we read aloud from page forty-one, words first spoken in the baccalaureate address Howard Thurman delivered at Spelman College on May 4th, 1980. "You are the only you that [...]
Savor Twenty-Five Seconds
Good morning... "I thought of you when I wrote yesterday's blog, A Fun Tale Of Two Brains," I texted our friend Dr. Cathy Snapp, co-author of The Hidden Life Awakened. Since she works in the blossoming field of neuroscience, I figured Cathy would have some wise answers to the questions expanding in my mind. "This comedian is really funny," I referenced the five minute video in our post, "but I wanted to ask [...]