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 [...]
Peace Transcends
Good morning... A seventy year old blog subscriber from southwest Washington state recently sent me this magnet with a kind note. "Don't tell God how BIG your storm is, tell the storm how BIG your GOD is." I have lived with this small gift and loved it immensely, and at the same time I have sensed three things happening. First, I have grown to learn that, for me, this statement is not an [...]
Today’s Vote In Georgia
Good morning... With an influential runoff election, today is a big day in our state of Georgia. Yesterday in my church email, I received this message from a person in an organization called the Georgia Citizens for Trump. "Hi Sue," said the mass email, "President Trump just declared the Georgia January 5th runoff as illegal and invalid. Instead of wasting time voting since it may be rigged, key supporters plan to win by [...]
Let’s Learn Together
Good morning... One thing I love most about being the Women's Ministry Director at Northside Church in Atlanta, Georgia is creatively learning about God with a variety of women. Semester-by-semester, collaborative learning feeds our souls and transforms us gradually into the likeness of the living Christ. Now is the time to sign up for our 2021 Winter/Spring classes. Might you touch on the link below, browse our lineup of classes, and register for [...]
Things Always Break
Good morning... This Christmas season we pared down to essentials. Immediate family. A handful of favorite ornaments on our ten foot fresh tree. And one nativity, this tiny nativity brought home from a late November yard sale. Because we were living lighter, we were able to spontaneously adjust when generous friends offered us a getaway to their mountain home on Christmas Eve. On the spur of the moment, we wrapped up and loaded [...]
Where Are You?
Good morning... As vulnerable babies, we are born in relationship, born into the experience of Genesis 2:25: In those days the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (VOICE). Then our innate self centeredness elbows others out of the way. Our "Me. Mine. I." begin to run our show. We devour what is not generously given to us, then, riddled with guilt, we hide away. The awareness of Genesis [...]
I Don’t Want 2020 To End
Good morning... "I really don't want 2020 to end," she said quietly as we talked in her garage, protected from the drizzly rain. "2020 will always be the last year my husband was alive." Her deep sorrow is not alone. For many of us, 2020 is the last year our spouse or our parent, our friend or our sibling, our child or our coworker will ever be alive on earth. The Spirit now [...]