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 [...]
Rest Is A Gift
Good morning... "Sue," she emailed after yesterday's blog post from Jacksonville, Florida, "that verse from Isaiah is one of my guiding verses: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me" (Isaiah 6:8, ESV). I am reading Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly and love the following quotes." "The minimum bar to be enfolded into [...]
I Hold You In My Heart
Good morning... We cannot fix, avoid or deny the pain of people in our community, but God can draw us near. We cannot say, do or express the perfect thing at the just right moment, but God can love through us. We cannot stop grief, tragedy or excruciating loss, but God can hold in our heart those stuck in a stormy dark night. We wonder, "How might I play a part in God's [...]
A Horrific Helicopter Crash
Good morning... Yesterday I woke in deep prayer for the families and friends of the two young fathers from our community who died in a horrific helicopter crash. As I waited for our microwave to heat up some day-old coffee, words from a hymn repeated often in our childhood church strangely sang up through the sorrow in my soul. "Great is thy faithfulness LORD unto me." Might God's great faithfulness to these grieving [...]
Our Isolation Evaporates
Good morning... As good friends treated us to a Braves game last week, she said, "I thought you were going to take some time off from writing your daily blog posts this summer." "Well, I was kinda hoping to take a break," I heard myself say, "but blogging each day has become such an important part of my life. Morning by morning, I just kept on writing. I realize that writing is a [...]
Our Gentle Guide
Good morning... In this sacred moment, I welcome you to read Philippians 4:5 in various translations. Slowly. Quietly. Aloud with God. Which inviting words whisper for your attention? ****** Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (NIV) Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. (AMP) Let your kindness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. [...]
Our Center Is Elsewhere
Good morning... First thing this morning, I am drawn to a poem written on September 11th, 2021. The words help to integrate all of the sights and the sounds, the images and the memories burned into our collective conscience since that terrible Tuesday twenty years ago. ****** When the towers fell by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, www.unfoldinglight.net When the towers fell it seemed the center of the world had vanished, but the center, it turns [...]
Relax To The Rhythm
Good morning... At 3:22 am, I responded to my friend's invitation to walk today: "In the morning, I will enjoy our peer supervision group at Ignatius House, face to face for the first time since the pandemic forced us to meet by Zoom, and, in the afternoon, I host my first class of women in our home since March of 2019, so today is delightfully full. If I feel breathing room in the [...]