Sleeping In Then Waking Up
Good morning... Yesterday morning I clicked on the small lamp beside my guest bed to see my shorthaired Betty angel holding a tiny red leaf from our holy hike up the North Carolina mountain to lay to final rest the ashes of our spiritual mentor. I checked my phone to read 7:23. Instead of writing a blog post, I savored the gift of sleeping in then stepping out to admire the sky. [...]
Join Us On Our Holy Hike
Good morning... In her blog post from The Hidden Life Awakened website, this week co-author Kitty Crenshaw shared with us a loving update. ***** Dearest Friends, Betty is gone now, but the peace of her presence is with us in a new and perhaps more powerful way. She often said, "I can do more for you from there than I can from here." Having a teacher like Betty meant having a friend who led from [...]
Joy After Death
Good morning... God continues to teach us about the joyful power which exists beyond death. I am intrigued by the words which came into my inbox yesterday. ****** DAILY MEDITATION | SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 A Death for Others by Henri Nouwen The great mystery is that all people who have lived with and in the Spirit of God participate through their deaths in the sending of the Spirit. God’s love continues to be [...]
Betty Skinner Popped Up
Good morning... "Look what popped up on my screensaver!" Kitty Crenshaw, co-author of The Hidden Life Awakened, texted me this photo from a visit we shared with Betty Skinner a few years back. "Oh, I love it!" I replied. "Such beautiful affirmation of mutual love. Betty is so present and so precious." At age ninety-five, our friend Betty went to her heavenly home on August 17th, 2021, inspiring us to live well the [...]
What Does Prayer Do?
Good morning... For me, the symbol above embodies the power of prayer. Sitting quietly in a corner of our home, this antique fire extinguisher holds lots of wild-haired curly-Q's and is coupled with a handheld vintage fireplace blower. "What," you might ask, "do these old objects have to do with prayer?" During our Friday morning class, I thought of this quirky symbol as we read aloud the following quote. "Similarly, there are desires [...]
Am I Drowning?
Good morning... For followers of Jesus Christ, Sunday mornings help us to deepen down into our truest desires. This morning as I revisit words from the first chapter of our semester's book, Sacred Rhythms, I come across the crux of our matter. "Your desire for more of God than you have right now, your longing for love, your need for deeper levels of spiritual transformation than you have experienced so far is the [...]
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
Good morning... One of my dearest spiritual friends has a birthday today. After our walk and talk yesterday, I gave her an early birthday gift. This whimsical mug I found at Goodwill is painted with the pattern of her grandmother's pottery, a pattern she has adored since childhood. It makes my heart so happy to know my soul sister will be sipping from this symbol of eternal love as she begins this day [...]
The Gift Of Spiritual Friends
Good morning... In a few hours, many of the twelve women on our Friday morning class roster will walk down our weathered sidewalk and through our wooden gate. To the right they will see white inpatients blooming boldly since summer's start and flourishing ferns beside a row of Hostas nibbled upon by hungry deer. To the left they will see a happy yellow mum whispering through this first week of fall, "Autumn, my [...]
To Love Is Risky
Good morning... "Thank you, Sue," he emailed me yesterday. "We all struggle with the fact that we have a deep and abiding love for others, even though we know with certainty that some will outrun us to the Father’s house. In a way, it is comforting to know that people have struggled with this reality for centuries. I am always reminded of that when I read this awesome poem by Yehuda HaLevi, a [...]
We Are Inseparable
Good morning... This morning I revisit the notes I scribbled during this week's Lovett Moms In Prayer gathering. As our community bonds together in a tumultuous time of grief following the death of two beloved dads in a helicopter crash, truths shared by the speaker continue to minister to me. She said, "When you don't know what to do, you do what you know to do." Right now I think: We know to [...]
Steve Comforts Those Grieving
Good morning... Steve, my husband, heads up the chaplain team at The Lovett School, the school where two fathers of Lower School students died this week. I had just finished a long phone conversation with a close friend of one of the grieving wives when Steve pulled in the driveway that tragic day. "So did you hear?" Of course he had. Throughout the evening he was on the phone with many. I was [...]
Today’s Four Letter Word
Good morning... As I put a frame around yesterday morning, from 3:00 am to 11:30 am, I hear one four letter word repeated. See if your spirit picks up the surround sound of God's Spirit. 3:00 am - our SueToYou devotional, Rest Is A Gift 5:00 am - Henri Nouwen devotional 6:59 am - Northside Church's devotional 7:27 am - Steve Allen's chaplain devotional 8:00 - 8:45 am - Words read aloud at [...]