Wow!
Good morning... "Wow!" she texted before last night's incredible thunder-and-lightening-fest. "Have you seen this?" "'Wow!' is right," I replied. "How can words written through a person nearly eighty years ago speak so boldly to us right now? This creative expression can only be the eternal voice of our living Lord, who was, and is, and is to come." “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, [...]
What Do Dogs Feel?
Good morning... Her normal nap spots were vacant. I couldn't find our dog anywhere. Not sucking in cool air on any of her favorite air vents. Not curled up in a cozy ball beside our bed in the corner of our main floor bedroom. Not laying outside her doggy door on the warm weathered wood, watching squirrels frolic from our back porch. With a baby gate turned "doggy gate" closing off the upstairs [...]
Will I Miss This?
Good morning... I walked up our stairs to the hometown bedroom of our college freshman, and this shocking image is what I saw. Appalling and endearing? Mess and excess? Raunchy and reckless? Most of you might be more mortified than I as you look at this crazy chaos, but my momma-eyes zero in on wonderful remnants of our well-rounded son. As I zoom into the photo, I see so much about who he [...]
Leaving Our Son
Good morning... My husband and I both gave our own blessing to our youngest child as we took him to college on Saturday. At our son's request, I made him three large homemade Stromboli's to share with his three roommates on their first evening in their new apartment. My husband also gave the blessing of words, personally presented at an opportune time. As we sat outside eating burgers at a cool [...]
Today’s Headlines
Good morning... Still in my pajamas, I sat outside on our private back porch. Admiring the thick canopy of summer leaves, I fully engaged in a hard, life-giving phone call. After listening and talking for as long as was needed, we hung up and I checked my email to find this inspirational story from a faraway subscriber. The timing was perfect. These words felt like a gift from God for me [...]
Back To School?
Good morning... These three annual words are more complicated this year. "Back to school" means virtual learning for many. "Back to school" for others means social distancing, mask-wearing, quarantining when exposed to COVID-19. "Back to school" for our family means the end of an era. Today, we will pack up two cars, drive seventy-five minutes to Athens, Georgia, and launch our youngest of four into his freshman year of college. Walking and talking [...]
One Big Prayer
Good morning... I am not the only one wrestling with this year's unique experience of heading "back to school." Children and teacher, parents and grandparents, caregivers and concerned folk everywhere are all wondering, "How do we do this school year well?" Earlier in the week, our church sent out a specialized prayer. Wherever we wake this Sunday morning, we come together as the bonded body of Christ. Spirit joins with Spirit as we lift our [...]
Beauty From Ashes
Good morning... After watching footage of the massive explosion rocking Lebanon's capital city of Beirut this week, I turned on the news to see the touching story below. Titling her homemade video Beauty From Ashes, a granddaughter filmed her grandmother playing “Auld Lang Syne” on the piano amid wreckage from the blast. The familiar song, based on a 1788 Scots poem by Robert Burns, is typically sung among friends and family on New Years [...]
When Worries Well Up
Good morning... Worries well-up naturally from our aching gut through our heavy heart to permeate our mixed-up mind. At their essence, worries are simply an invitation into prayer. Let me show you what I mean. For example, instead of incessantly worrying "How am I ever going to homeschool my kids online again this fall semester?" we pray, "God, please help me to rest in You as Your peaceful presence overflows to make our [...]
Hand And Heart
Good morning... "Good morning, Sue," she emailed after yesterday's post Worry Less. Pray More. "I saw this yesterday and thought of it again reading your wise words this morning. XO." With our hand on our beating heart, where the Spirit of God is alive and well, we center ourselves on the only important thing: the peaceful love of God overflowing through us to bring the kingdom of heaven to vibrant life [...]
Worry Less. Pray More.
Good morning... "I am appalled by your blog and photo," the woman commented after yesterday's post. "How can it be true that we all grow up into God over time? That thought is too inclusive." "Too inclusive." The phrase lingered as I woke from sleep. This was a quote not from a real woman, but from a critical voice in my mind, stirring me awake, haunting and taunting. The inner voice was a [...]
We Grow Up
Good morning... Experiencing constant transformation, we are rooted where we are planted, we are undeniably interconnected, and we each grow up into God at our own rate over time. I love this photo which provides a visual expression of our individual lives extending up into the light of the Giver of life. At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent [...]