Our First Snow
Good morning... "First snow day of the season!" my sister texted the picture above from her small town in Ohio. As kids growing up in a suburb of Cleveland, we absolutely loved snow days off from school. "Oh how gorgeous," I replied. "We had minuscule specks of snow blowing in the air yesterday. Your beautiful snow photo provides quiet encouragement, 'Hibernate, dear ones, hibernate.' It feels like we are heading into an extra [...]
Steve Reflects
Good morning... "It’s Advent, which usually means a season of hope," my husband wrote yesterday in his chaplain message for Lovett School subscribers. "Unfortunately, this has been a tough year for hope. It’s been difficult to feel the certainty of a better future when 2020 seems to be stuck in a pattern of bad news followed by more bad news; a sea of cancellations, rising positive Covid tests, masks, limited social interaction, loss [...]
Why Do We Stare?
Good morning... I hold in one hand our newest nativity, brought home for a dollar from last weekend's yard sale. The intimacy surprises me. Animals and humans, angel and baby, each handcrafted clay figure rests securely on the open palms of the Almighty Creator. What is the one thing this small nativity has in common with all other nativities? The ones pulled from a box in the basement or attic. The ones blown [...]
Serenity In The Center
Good morning... Most of the art around our home was created by people I know and love. Corrine Adams creations. Sally Mitchell originals. Photography by Jo Reeves and Karey Walter. Steve Penley, who bought and is now selling our old home. Paintings by Gina MacFarland, our SueToYou.com website designer. Creative expressions of our kids and family photos from over the years. As art surrounds, meaningful connection abounds. Our newest piece of art came [...]
Broken And Bonded
Good morning... I found this unique cross at Goodwill years back. It hangs on our bedroom wall, reminding me that our broken pieces are mended mysteriously by the grace of God. I have pointy pieces, shattered shards, childhood chips. So does everyone I love and everyone I sometimes hate. The question for each of us becomes, "How might I allow the cross of Christ to cement in me a new kind of beauty?" [...]
Making A Mosaic
Good morning... I woke on Thanksgiving morn with this inspiring meditation blessing my inbox. Community Makes God Visible by Henri Nouwen, November 27th, 2020 Nothing is sweet or easy about community. Community is a fellowship of people who do not hide their joys and sorrows but make them visible to each other as a gesture of hope. In community we say: “Life is full of gains and losses, joys and sorrows, ups and [...]
Snuggle In Grateful
Good morning... Hemmed in and held close by the God who adores us, may we grow grateful for each tiny, trusted blessing snuggling into us today. As this music video below begins, think with me, "If I pulled up a chair and sat down beside this small, seasoned woman, what words might I write down as I celebrate this day?" Therefore, let us all be thankful that we are a part of an [...]
One Creative Hug
Good morning... Sitting social distanced beneath our back porch, she pulled out her phone and texted me photos of a fun activity she had done with her grandchildren, tracing their outstretched arms, painting and cutting out the paper arms, and sending them to their great grandmother with a personal love poem. She gave me permission to share this creative process with you. What [...]
It’s Our Neighbors’ Table!
Good morning... Walking our dog Tate, I came upon a young mom and two adorable daughters, quite likely around ages four and six. "It's our neighbors' table!" the youngest blurted out, excited about the newly placed wooden table with two long benches sitting beneath the trees at the end of their driveway. Talking back and forth a while, I admired their creative way of welcoming connection during these cloistering COVID holidays. "We're decorating [...]
I Didn’t Expect To Cry
Good morning... I didn't expect to cry when it was my turn to share. The four of us have connected over the phone for two hours every month since finishing our spiritual direction training program in August of 2017. We live in different towns, in different states, but at 9:00 am on the third Monday of each month, we take turns listening and sharing from the deep, sacred reservoir carved out between us. [...]
Encouragement From Steve
Good morning... It seems many in our online community enjoy the simple and uplifting chapel messages my husband Steve shares, virtually due to COVID, with his community of upper school students, faculty, and administrators. Steve's weekly chapel talks are a lot like the children's messages I experienced in our Lutheran Church growing up in Berea, Ohio. We kids in the church family would meander up to the front of the sanctuary and sit [...]
Encouragement From Steve
Good morning... It seems many in our online community enjoy the simple and uplifting chapel messages my husband Steve shares, virtually due to COVID, with his community of upper school students, faculty, and administrators. Steve's talks are a lot like the weekly children's messages we used to experienced in our Lutheran Church growing up in Berea, Ohio. We kids in the church family would meander up to the front of the sanctuary and [...]