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 [...]
Our Wise Fear Of Water
Good morning... I have never understood the phrase fear of the Lord. It seems like such an oxymoron to fear a God who loves us unconditionally, beyond our wildest imagination. The things we fear we usually stay away from, so why does Proverbs 1:7 make it clear that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge? I have never really understood this unsettling phrase, fear [...]
Sipping With The Sun
Good morning... As the first one awake, I wait for the freshly ground coffee to drip through the pot. The pastel sky peeks through the window, reflects off the borrowed black table, and invites me outside. Sipping with the rising sun, my lips and my eyes are filled with delight. As I rest here with God passionate prayers rise up too. I pray for [...]
Inspired By A Call
Good morning... The morning after my husband and I returned as Julie's Dream chaperones from a week-long trip to Maine with kids and staff from PAWkids, a friend sent me the follow text: "I hope you saw this. So wonderful!!!!" I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article about the uplifting work of LaTonya Gates, community leader and founding director of PAWkids. As I have gotten to know LaTonya well over the past [...]
At Grandmother’s House
Good morning... Our four kids have left their grandmother's house, a modest log home beside a small lake in Pennsylvania. "It's really more like a pond," one of our daughters said this year, as we can see from one end of the lake to the other. Thirty-three of us gathered from all over the country - Washington state, Oregon, Nebraska, Kentucky, Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania - to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Steve's family [...]
My Opinionated Heart
Good morning... As we were driving to our family reunion in Pennsylvania last Sunday, a minister said over the radio, "Jesus did not come to earth to take a side, he came to earth to take over." I got out my phone and texted myself the wise sentence. I have been pondering the thought all week. In our world, there are conflicting sides to be taken. Red or blue. Black or white. Right [...]
The Moon And Me
Good morning... "Hi, Sue!" she wrote after yesterday's illuminating blog, Dawning This Day. "After reading your post today I wanted to share this email with you that I received yesterday from a friend and local author of several inspirational books (we live in St. Pete, FL). The article reminded me of what you conveyed in your message. I appreciate you!" ****** We All Shine On by Dr. Dennis Merritt Jones Last night after [...]
Dawning This Day
Good morning... I feel like I am living in a pre-dawn haze, not knowing, not seeing, not understanding life's larger landscape. ALS raging. Cancer ravaging. Addiction killing. Grief strangling. Poverty depleting. Division splintering. God, what are you doing inside and among us? God's light dawns quietly, like a heavenly dimmer switch, steadily allowing compassionate clarity to slowly inch up. We are not in charge of this day's dawning. Totally [...]