Up From Our Roots
Good morning... As I was searching for a simple way to bring to life the first three chapters of Genesis, I ran into this really cool rendition of two artists' expression of Genesis 3. God also drew me to Luke 7:40-47 in the Message translation to balance our bad debt with God's abundant goodness. Up from our common roots grow forgiveness and gratitude. Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell [...]
I’m Afraid God
Good morning... "I'm afraid God," I reread my handwriting in yesterday's journal pages. "I finally deepen down to feel my fear. I am afraid of not listening well enough to be Your scribe for a class of seventy-plus women awaiting this week's study segments. I fear that, for sake of timeliness, maybe these words will become my concoction rather than Your creation, LORD. I fear that I am so flawed, so incomplete, so [...]
“Happy 95th Birthday, Betty!”
Good morning... For those who have followed our everyday blog for a while, you know I love my dear friend Betty Skinner. Betty and I first met through the pages of the sacred book chronicling her spiritual journey, The Hidden Life Awakened by Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp. The story of God meeting Betty very intimately in the deep valley of clinical depression at age forty-two helped to amplify God's voice for [...]
Not Easy But Amazing
Good morning... Last night as we watched the Super Bowl with our small group from church, we enjoyed the always entertaining commercials. One clever commercial involved a hilarious Jason Alexander hoodie. Another "Let's grab a beer" commercial reminded us that it has never been about the beer, it's about being together. With the return of Wayne's World, Wayne, Garth and their kooky look alike babies encouraged us to support our local restaurants. Great [...]
Old Words. New Song.
Good morning... A dear friend reconnected me to an old quote I adore from When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd: "What has happened to our ability to dwell in unknowing, to live inside a question and coexist with the tensions of uncertainty? Where is our willingness to incubate pain and let it birth something new? What has happened to patient unfolding, to endurance? These things are what form the ground of [...]
Relax And Wait
Good morning... As it wakes to a new day, sometimes the sky above our backyard looks like the photo I took last week. Unique colors are exquisitely well defined. Breathtaking beauty is shockingly undeniable. Joy, hope, peace feel boldly embodied. This morning the sky caught my eye for a totally different reason. When I stepped out onto our back porch, this is what I saw. Taken from the same location as the colorful [...]
We Can’t See The Road Ahead
Good morning... "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going," she read a Thomas Merton quote over the phone to end our monthly Julie's Dream prayer meeting. "I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not actually mean I am doing [...]
Cancer Gives Life?
Good morning... "For me, the word cancer is interchangeable with the word life," a wise, wise woman taught her daughter before leaving earth for heaven. This daughter happens to be one my good friends. Since today, February 4th, is World Cancer Day, I reached out to my friend to further unwrap the gift of her mom's unusual statement. "For her, cancer was another word for life, because her diagnosis made her deeply aware [...]
Get GUIDANCE
Good morning... "...refreshing to find this in our bed n breakfast information book in Cedar Key, Florida...this evening...so sweet," a loyal subscriber wrote me last night. ****** DANCING WITH GOD When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn’t flow with [...]
What Are We Truly About?
Good morning... "Spiritual reading is not only reading about spiritual people or spiritual things," I quietly read Henri Nouwen's insights aloud to our Zoom class. "It is also reading spiritually, that is, in a spiritual way! Reading in a spiritual way is reading with a desire to let God come closer to us." "The purpose of spiritual reading . . . is not to master knowledge or information but to let God’s Spirit [...]
Nothing Is Unimportant
Good morning... The drunk, the hunk, the chunk, and the monk, we are all in the process of being converted by God, from selfishness to servanthood, from dogmatic answers to life-giving questions, from "Why me?" to "Here I am, Lord, send me." True conversion involves a change of attitude, emotion, and viewpoint from one of disbelief, indifference, and antagonism to one of faith, acceptance, and transformation. The old dies, the new blossoms. "The [...]
We Walk With Our Shadow
Good morning... We deepen down into the statement, "When we emerge from this global pandemic, we will be either a drunk, a hunk, a chunk or a monk!" Do we see the two-sided invitation of each temporary state? The drunk may be driven to surrender, craving an intimate connection to our Higher Power. The hunk may get caught up in the vicious cycle of comparing and competing before pride leads to a fall. [...]