After A Stormy Day
Good morning... Yesterday was a stormy day for many of us. Chaos, injury, and death in Afghanistan. COVID patients crowding our hospital beds. The ugly affects of gun violence and suicide bombers, Alzheimers and ALS, cancer and rare diseases ravaging the lives of people we love. Yesterday was a really hard, stormy day for many of us. Somehow in solidarity, hard rains fell from the sky in Grayton Beach, Florida. After the storm, [...]
Come Alive With Me
Good morning... I drove to Grayton Beach, Florida for a planning time with Kitty Crenshaw and Cathy Snapp as we prepare for our November 6th Awake To Wholeness Women's Retreat at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta. As I have said previously, "Please save the date." And now I can add, "Yes," we are working on a way to capture the experience in webinar form for those who cannot join us. We [...]
Time For An Oil Change
Good morning... This week, I happened across this verse of the day on Biblegateway.com. When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy (Psalm 94:18-19, NIV). It's kinda like a much-needed oil change. Isn't it? The fearful foot-slipping sensation is exchanged for the support of the Lord's unfailing love. Great anxiety within us is traded for our Creator's [...]
Are You A Helper Or A Witness?
Good morning... When I returned from speaking at the Lovett Moms In Prayer kick-off yesterday morning, I came home pondering, "God, what were You really trying to say through me?" As I prayerfully processed a smattering of thoughts, I deepened down into the roots beneath the talk I had just given to a room full of hopeful moms beginning a new school year. These words quietly unfolded on my page. Before the day [...]
Fall. Football. Father.
Good morning... With summer tipping into fall, my husband and I went to the first high school football game of the season. Lights. Crowds. A buzzing excitement. I could not help but snap a photo of the exuberance of heaven pouring into the ruggedness of earth. Earth feels really rugged right now. There are a lot of rough things happening across our globe. The aftermath of another devastating earthquake in Haiti. The heartbreaking, [...]
The Muddle Of Mourning
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she wrote the day after Betty Skinner died. "Sending you a quick email. I am always amazed how the Upper Room seems to fit those moments in my life . . . connecting to mutterings and thoughts. Please see below. With the passing of Betty . . . and the prayer for spiritual mentors . . . I thought of you. Much love." ****** UPPER ROOM DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR [...]
Give Me Jesus
Good morning... "This reminded me of your post today:)," a friend texted me the image above after yesterday's post Do You Feel It In Your Bones? Falcon. Friendship. Freedom. An earlier writing from Christian mystic Betty Skinner about dying on a rainy day. Looking up Psalm 19:14 beside the caption "Oh Lord, My Rock," I share the heartfelt request in the Amplified Bible translation: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation [...]
Do You Feel It In Your Bones?
Good morning... "Sue, your blog posts have been stunning and deeply meaningful," Cathy Snapp texted Kitty Crenshaw and me yesterday morning. "Thank you, dearest friend, for walking this path together with us. I feel the depth of all our connection with our beloved mystic and saint, Bettina." "Yes, it is stunning, absolutely God. Watching, feeling, experiencing God's Spirit rise up so profoundly in and around us, it is such a sight to behold," [...]
We Are Raised Up
Good morning... "Our sweet Bettina went home tonite," Kitty Crenshaw texted Cathy Snapp and me at 10:22 pm on August 17th. (These two gifted friends are the co-authors of The Hidden Life Awakened, a holy book chronicling the life of Betty Skinner.) "Betsy asked me to go and anoint her body. It has been such an honor." "It is the most precious honor, most utterly precious honor," replied Cathy right away, "and so, so, [...]
Betty Is With Jesus
Good morning... In unison with me and Betty Skinner's friends and family, so many of you have been lifting loving prayers on her behalf, praying at Betty's request that Jesus come and take her home. Tonight our tender prayers were answered. Now Betty rests at peace with her very best friend Jesus. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If [...]
Betty Skinner Has A Virus
Good morning... "Mom has been down with a virus," said the caringbridge message written by Betty Skinner's daughter, Betsy, on August 11th. "She was not tested for Covid, and has been in isolation for the past several weeks. The health center is again prohibiting visits to rooms, and she wants no porch visits. She says, 'I feel so bad!' Although her vitals are good enough and she is eating just enough, it's pretty [...]
Sign Up For Fall Classes
Good morning... What a privilege it is to be the Women's Ministry Director at Northside Church here in Atlanta. Since January of 2008, our Program Coordinator and I have been a well-balanced team seeking to connect women in our community to the power of our multi-faceted God. Every August, we announce our new classes for the fall semester. Today is that day, 2021. I am so excited to share that, after eighteen months [...]