September 11th, 2001 and 2020
Good morning... This spring, amid the Corona mayhem, we received a large manilla envelop addressed to me. I looked inside to find a stack of letters wearing my handwriting, letters I had written from our new home in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania reaching out to my long long time friend in Mableton, Georgia. The first letter in the pile was dated 9/17/01. ****** Dear Laura... Tomorrow we will both wake up and recognize right [...]
Creating Peaceful Patterns
Good morning... "Nature, at a glance, is random and chaotic," my artist friend Corinne Adams wrote in her email. "Yet underlying this apparently disordered and complex system are intricate patterns, interconnected relationships, bold repetitions and a system of self-organization." "I am called into nature," she explains, "first, to observe what is there and to invite it to speak to me in form, texture, color and spirit. My practice is meditational as [...]
First Time In Fifteen Years
Good morning... One mid summer night in 2005, God startled me awake: "Host a Bible study in your home." I recently pulled out the manuscript which chronicles my formation as a writer, a teacher, a daily God-listener. We now pick up the story after our life-changing move from a tiny town in Pennsylvania to the bustling city of Atlanta, Georgia. ****** Excerpt from God Speaks Through Us: Hear, Obey, and Share the Voice of [...]
From Bad To Greater Good
Good morning... As our website crashed this week, I anxiously worried, "That's bad!" Then, just like in one of our kids' favorite books, my initial "That's bad!" surprisingly morphed into "That's good!" Let me tell you the story. In this delightful yellow book, a little boy has a comical series of mishaps as his visit to the zoo turns into a high-flying adventure. A shiny red balloon carries him into unexpected [...]
Broken And Whole
Good morning... "Good morning, Sue," she texted today at 8:03 am. "This is the second morning your wonderful blog posts have a funky format and are not opening. Anyone else mention that?" God and I have been working on a computer issue with our web designer for the past thirty-six hours. Something with a server. Something with a glitch. Something with something I know nothing about. So no blog post yesterday. No blog [...]
The Gift Of Instability
Good morning... I recently ran across an old Youtube video of me teaching a living room full of ladies about transformation, metamorphosis, and being strengthened by God from the inside out. (Below you can see for yourself my taped introduction of our book, Scared To Soar? ) I chuckle at myself on video, seeing my banged hair with less grey, noticing my uncomfortable smile sharing an imperfect monologue, and cherishing the faces symbolic of [...]
Settle By The Sea
Good morning... "Sue, I’m pretty sure you get these Henri Nouwen meditations," she emailed me yesterday, "but this one is really beautiful to me and I want to make sure you see it. Also, we need prayer for a six year old boy that is the son of our daughter's close friend. This little boy has a really bad cancer in his leg. The journey started this week for the family. Please pray for [...]
Hanging On By A Thread
Good morning... Pictured above is a framed print I recently brought home from a fascinating yard sale. Somehow it feels like a self-portrait of me looking into the mirror of our multifaceted God, the living body of Christ. The thread running through the colorful minds of these partial people reminds me of the rich tapestry of healing love woven within and among us. Belonging in God's mysterious mosaic, we are all knit together [...]
A Service Led By Steve
Good morning... Every August since 1995, my husband Steve has started a new school year as a chaplain at The Lovett School (minus our brief, beloved stint in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania from 2001-2003). Hands down, this August has been the most unusual, unsettling beginning of school, ever. Unable to gather all the upper school students in the chapel with social distancing restrictions due to COVID, Steve hosted by video his opening chapel of [...]
Learn To Be Still
Good morning... I have loved classic rock music for as long as I can remember but, in his devotional message yesterday, our pastor introduced me to an Eagles song I had never met before. I googled the lyrics and enjoyed my new discovery. ****** Learn to Be Still by the Eagles It's just another day in paradise As you stumble to your bed You'd give anything to silence Those voices ringing in your [...]
Gaze At God
Good morning... On a walk and talk one morning this week, I listened to a friend express concern over these troubling times. Then I was surprised to hear myself say, "We just need to gaze at God. We can glance at the world's unrest, but we need to keep our gaze on God." Then, before noon, I talked by phone to another friend and God's Spirit revealed more insight. "We need to train our [...]
Growing A Prayer Garden
Good morning... As communities across our globe are gathering together to pray for healing, I want to tell you a story about a growing prayer garden planted in the heart of our small town community. To do so, I pull out my phone and scroll back on a string of texts that began on Wednesday, January 22, 2020. "Hi Sue!" she texted. "This is Lisa Rieves. I have an idea to start a prayer [...]