Have Dinner With Me
Good morning... Slowly, prayerfully, she served up a heaping bowl of wisdom from over the phone. Then I asked her to text me the sacred reading from miles away. Now we all dive into the delicious feast together. Foreign-to-me words now become for us a meaningful meal. "Epiphany, with a capital "E", what might this mean?" I ask myself. A sudden, intuitive perception of something profoundly essential. Insight. Inspiration. Illumination. "What [...]
Our Spiritual Family
Good morning... "I asked the LORD what I should preach on today," said the pastor at the funeral. "I was led to a strange scripture - John 19:25." Mary, Jesus’ mother, was standing next to his cross, along with Mary’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus looked down and saw the disciple he loved standing with her, he said, “Mother, look—John will be a son to you.” [...]
The Legacy Of Leon
Good morning... In these early hours, I pull out my journal and re-read the notes I took as we watched from home the funeral of Dr. Leon Haley, Jr. held yesterday in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dying tragically in a jet skiing accident at 56 years old, Leon is mourned by family, friends, colleagues and three amazing children who are former classmates of our own four kids. Revisiting my journal pages, now [...]
Our Trust Muscles
Good morning... "On the pavement, mid-stride, I saw a tattered, blackened penny," explained our post from yesterday. "I picked it up and looked at the ugly, messy coin. I knew that somewhere the penny read, "In God We Trust," but I could not see this truth clearly. I thought to myself, "This is exactly what my friend is feeling. Her trust in God has been obscured by the overwhelming complexities of life." "Good [...]
One Tattered Penny
Good morning... She sat on our couch and said something like this: "I don't know how to hear God. I don't know my life purpose. I'm so anxious about making a plan and making a mistake that I have narrowed down my world to things, people, and activities that feel safe. My world has become very small and suffocating. I hate it." Life stories like that of Scott Harrison, who is being used [...]
We Thirst
Good morning... Many of our readers enjoyed the touching video about Scott Harrison's life shared in our blog post from yesterday. Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World is also a book chronicling the global ministry God is inspiring through Scott, a non-profit called charity: water. "This is one of the books that I read during the pandemic," a close friend quickly texted. "Can't [...]
Gush Living Water
Good morning... One night when I was up in the dark, early hours, I happened across a captivating video sharing the story of a global non-profit called charity: waters. Several months later, my young friend Joanna said, "I have been invited to go on assignment for charity: waters." My memory returned immediately to the story of this fascinating founder, who died to a life that "was" to expand into God's "abundantly more." Then [...]
Artistically Love People
Good morning... “THERE IS NOTHING MORE TRULY ARTISTIC THAN TO LOVE PEOPLE,” says the Vincent Van Gogh quote on the website of my new nineteen year old friend from Minnesota. Joanna's email from yesterday made my admiring heart smile. ****** Hi Sue! I hope you are having a good start to your week! I just wanted to inform you that the campaign for charity: water is launched! https://www.charitywater.org/tiny-heroes If you watch the launch video [...]
One Long, Long Day
Good morning... To the beaming light of a big full moon, we left rural Pennsylvania at 3:34 am. Sipping on freshly brewed coffee. Debriefing from our visit with extended family. Listening to all of the episodes in a podcast called "Who Killed Mars Hill?" Stopping twice for gas, potty and food, we pulled into our Atlanta driveway at 4:54 pm, nearly thirteen and a half hours later. The marvelous moon illuminated our path [...]
Breathe On Me Breath Of God
Good morning... Before leaving earth for the eternity of heaven, Jesus said to his flawed, faithful followers, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth, who will be to you a friend just like me—and he will never leave you. The world won’t receive him because they can’t see him or know him. But you know him intimately because he remains with you and [...]
Our Unique Wiring
Good morning... Over the Zoom call connecting Joanna from her bedroom in Minnesota and me from my vacation in Pennsylvania, we shared an ah-ha moment. "I'm finally embracing the fact that I'm not a logical thinker," Joanna said with a contagious smile. "I'm a creative problem solver." The heart of this nineteen year old is cut from a similar swath of cloth as the heart pumping abundant life through me. God's big wide [...]
Made For More Than Breathing
Good morning... As God continues our ongoing conversation about walking barefoot through deep grief, courageously facing painful challenges, and trusting that we were each made for more than breathing, I am drawn to a song by Ginny Owen. Regular readers of our everyday blog will remember that Ginny is a talented singer who mysteriously went blind at age three. As you soak in sacredness of her music video, I hope you will clearly [...]