We Go Through Deep Waters
Good morning... "I came home from the beautiful memorial service," I wrote in my journal, "exhausted from listening, exhausted from crying, exhausted from socializing. But as I sit still with myself right now, I realize that the most exhausting thing for me is knowing that these could be our grieving children. With their three kids born in the same years as our four kids, how would we live on as a family without [...]
Inner Circle Friends
Good morning... One of my inner circle friends is an inner circle friend of the Haley family. I have kept in prayerful texting contact with my close friend as she inches through the grief process, intimately supporting her close friend, Dr. Carla Haley. Last Saturday both women sat together in the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania pews as the legacy of Dr. Leon Haley, Jr. was memorialized in his hometown. "My prayers are with you as [...]
Mom, She’s Copying Me
Good morning... "Hi Sue, check out today’s Upper Room devotional," she wrote from her home in South Carolina. "It speaks to me as have the recent posts you have shared about our voice. TODAY, my favorite day, I will work hard to choose to imitate God’s great love." Quietly, I chose to respond to her nudge, checking out yesterday's Upper Room devotional. ****** AUGUST 5, 2021 BY MONTRA C. WEAVER (TEXAS, USA) When [...]
On Today’s Platter
Good morning... Last night I made twelve Stromboli, six to serve our son's high school friends in our busy basement and six to share with his college friends as they move into their rental home this afternoon. Straddling two life chapters, two different seasons, two separate towns - Atlanta and Athens - Stromboli chills in our refrigerator right now, leftovers from last night and foil filled gifts to give today. Savoring what has [...]
My Plan Was Disrupted
Good morning... Last Wednesday morning, my calendar was comfortably full. 8:00 am - coffee with my daughter before her workday. 10:00 am - spiritual direction session #1. 11:15 am - spiritual direction session #2. Over our first cup of coffee, I received a text canceling the first session due to my client's overflowing workload. Over our second cup of coffee, I received a text canceling the second session since my next client woke [...]
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 [...]