On Broken Wings
Good morning... We had not seen each other since COVID closed down our weekly class in March. Now three quarters of the way through September, it was the perfect cool morning for our heart-to-heart catch up. My friend has had a very difficult few years. An impending divorce. Anxious uncertainty. Soul-searching, "God, how will You heal me whole again?" Each with our dogs, walking some shady hills, we came upon an interesting sight. [...]
“Yes,” Said The Butterfly
Good morning... I was prayerfully hemming and hawing about a fairly insignificant decision. Though it was a small potato in the grand stew of life, still I wanted to choose wisely. I waited and waited until the surge of God's Spirit rose up to lead me to a pretty clear "Yes". It was a clear enough "Yes" for me to move forward with timid confidence. After I made my decision, I drove home [...]
Gratitude Day 2020
Good morning... 2020 has been a doozie all over the world. Globally much has captured our collective concern, but today, September 21st, marks the annual holiday designed to spark our collective gratitude: World Gratitude Day. Why do we need a World Gratitude Day? Isn’t our collective gratitude expressed on Thanksgiving Day? Yes, but traditionally not all countries celebrate Thanksgiving. Besides the U.S. and Canada, there are only a handful of countries which celebrate [...]
God Binds And Unblinds Us
Good morning... One new opportunity brought on by COVID is that the Upper School chapel services led by my husband Steve are shared virtually on YouTube. I received many positive responses from this week's message, so I thought I would share Steve's thoughts with you. What do we do the day after God's binding love begins to unblind us? The person loving a brother and sister stays in the light, and there is [...]
Here’s My Advice
Good morning... If you have been tracking God's recent movement in my life, you realize that I feel feeble and powerless as I try to hold steady my small sails, seeking to catch the strong, healing winds of God's powerful Spirit. Writing from scratch a companion study to Anne Morrow Lindbergh's classic Gift from the Sea feels like a God-thing, not a Sue-thing. I like peace, comfort, slow moving progress, so this whirlwind [...]
A Friend Who Cares
Good morning... As I pulled from our mailbox a white 3 x 5 envelop, I was excited to receive a handwritten note. She expressed gratitude for our God-ordained friendship. We are quietly walking together through the deep valley of her grief. On the top half of the card, she had cut out and glued on a touching Henri Nouwen quote. "When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most [...]
Be At Home
Good morning... The calming voice of my spiritual director soothed me from over the phone. She read to me aloud from a special translation of Psalm 19 by Stephen Mitchell. Later she texted me the words and I read and re-read their beauty in the comfort of my own home. Now I ask you to give yourself the gift of reading them slowly and aloud to yourself that you too might feel God [...]
Our Colorful Moods
Good morning... As my awesome friend came to our home for a walk and talk, we looked across the street to see joy in the making. The little, smiley girl from across the street was having a birthday, and this was the coronavirus version of "Celebrate good times!" My friend and I walked up some hills and talked up a storm, enjoying cool raindrops along the way. When we returned to [...]
Don’t Waste Good Wine
Good morning... I woke this morning with a verse saturating my mind. I got out of bed, went to my Bible, and searched for the verse. Here's what I found. "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins," warns Jesus in Mark 2:22 (AMP). God, [...]
This Is A God-Thing
Good morning... The sun rises on the first day of our interactive, online study of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's 1955 classic Gift from the Sea. This companion study includes book excerpts recorded from the beach, Scriptures, music videos, and questions to ponder. I just checked our class roster and sixty-three women have signed up to join us on this God-inspired adventure. Sixty-three women from Atlanta and other Georgia towns, Florida and Ohio, Connecticut and Canada. Sixty-three [...]
“I Love Church Like This!”
Good morning... She was walking into our neighborhood as I was driving out. I had not seen this friend, a long-time church member, for a very long time. So, I stopped, rolled down my window, and enjoyed our brief conversation. "I love church like this!" she said, referring to our COVID-style church of online worship, daily devotionals, and out-of-the-box learning and serving opportunities. This usually quiet, very grounded, black-haired introvert went on to [...]
Are We Colorblind?
Good morning... "I don't see color," a long-time friend said over dinner the other night. I think she meant, "I take people as they are. I don't judge any person by the color of their skin. My diverse relationships are more than skin-deep." Growing up, when we said, "I don't see color," we thought we were being non-judgmental, accepting to all, open to friendship regardless of race. Yet, from the reading and the [...]