Living The Dream
Good morning... Earlier this month we received the photo above, sent from the well known town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Steve and I were married in my hometown of Berea, Ohio in 1987, we enjoyed his final two years in seminary at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, then we moved to Gettysburg for his first real job as an associate pastor at Gettysburg Presbyterian Church. Surrounded by an amazing church family, we [...]
Good For The Soul
Good morning... "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy," sings the John Denver lyrics in my brain as I scroll through beach photos on my phone. Even as I cozy up on our couch at home, I sense the oceanic rhythms of God continuing to melt layers of me. I am reminded of truth shared by our friend Dr. Cathy Snapp, co-author of The Hidden Life Awakened. To disconnect negative thoughts [...]
Waking Up With You
Good morning... It was hard to leave the beach last night, turning my back to the setting sun. Who was it that said, "Parting is such sweet sorrow?" Sweet, what a deliciously sweet week this has been. Deepening down, alone with God and our dogs, has been so fruitful, so so fantastic. Yesterday, to the sound of the unpredicted rain, I recorded my voice reading forty selected book excerpts from The Hidden Life [...]
Gratitude Is Everything
Good morning... I have spent the week selecting forty readings from one of my favorite books, The Hidden Life Awakened by Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp. Recording my voice reading aloud these soulful quotes will make up the backbone of our Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul study. Forty readings. God and I prayerfully, diligently, whittled down the rich blessing of this amazing book to forty chosen readings. Guided by the [...]
We All Get Our Say
Good morning... Soaking in the sight of the sunset last night, I sensed my soul celebrate, "I feel really grateful to be a follower of the living Christ and a citizen of the United States." Earlier in the day, I had watched some of the varied, articulate thoughts being shared during the second impeachment hearing of Donald J. Trump. I couldn't help but think, "If I was given thirty to sixty seconds to [...]
Our Dogs Are So Different
Good morning... Just like our four young adult kids, our two dogs are so so different. Being sequestered with Tate and Gracie for an undisturbed week of writing at the beach, I can't help but notice how differently our dogs respond to the grey cold of winter. Tate, our furry-coated golden retriever mix, spends hours and hours outside in the chilly weather. Perched on delighted alert, she loves picking up any movement, noticing [...]
What Did I Forget?
Good morning... Each time I go on a trip, the question is not, "Will I forget to pack something?" The reliable question has become over the years, "What did I forget?" As I shared in our morning message from Sunday, I am spending the week working to finalize this semester's study with God, Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul. As I drove down the highway, the nagging question reared her familiar head, [...]
In Solidarity With Steve
Good morning... Last Monday my husband Steve sent the following devotional to the faculty and staff at the school where he is chaplain. In response, a friend sent me the image above, "For Steve!" she texted. ****** Devotional message for January 4th, 2021 by Rev. Steve Allen The first mission trip I was in charge of in my first job out of seminary, thirty-five high school kids were brought by their parents in [...]
Today’s Sabbath Sunrise
Good morning... I left our home yesterday to prepare for a week of work, one delightful week fully focused on bringing to life this semester's study Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul, which begins on January 22nd. (By the way...for those who live nearby or far away, if you would like to register for this class or the other Winter/Spring studies offered by our Women's Ministry, please touch on this link.) A [...]
Light Dawns On Us
Good morning... When God overwhelms me with an audacious sunrise or a mind boggling sunset, I often snap a photo on my iPhone. Before I shared with our online community the photo of yesterday's sunrise above, I personally texted the image to four sun-loving friends. Very quickly, I got my first response. "We all need this today," she wrote, snapping a photo of the very same sunrise, taken from the top of the [...]
When Red And Blue Blend
Good morning... The morning after the U.S. 2020 election results were confirmed by blending the voices from red and blue states, I woke up to a text. "Good morning!" wrote a forever friend. "This story made me think of you! We all need some violets in our world right now!!!" Then I read aloud to myself the pages she copied for me, the January 7th pages from Streams from the Desert. [...]
Let Love Lead
Good morning... Watching the footage of yesterday's siege on the U.S. Capitol building, our youngest son asked, "If I have kids, do you think images from this day will be in their history books?" We agreed that we were watching history in the making. Reconvening after the violence, leaders in the House and the Senate were each given five minutes to express their thoughts before confirming the Electoral College votes cast in November’s [...]