What Do We Really Need?
Good morning... My old iPhone 5-S died. I posted about that yesterday. As the day unfolded, it became clear: our morning message was not about my phone. It was about our shared sense of losing touch. Stripped by the chaos of Corona, our economic breakdown, and the unrest of injustice, collectively we have lost a lot. As manmade lifelines are severed, one by one, we are reducing down to God alone. "Hi Sue," [...]
I Feel Out Of Touch
Good morning... Separation from our old normal happened bit by bit. First the cancelation of highly anticipated large group gatherings, then unplugging from beloved small group supports. Next staying away from familiar buildings, church, school, office, then safely distancing from the homes of family and friends. Gradually we reduced ourselves down to computer contact, Zoom, online learning, and creative expressions. In this strange season of social distancing, ultimately our phones have become our [...]
Spread The Spirit
Good morning... We wake to a special morning in the worldwide church. Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. Remember how the wildfire spread of God's Holy Spirit began? On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in [...]
Facing Violence
Good morning... After watching violence erupt all over the news following the very sad public killing of George Floyd and hearing story after story of private violence against young teenaged girls in the first episode of Filthy Rich, a documentary about Jeffery Epstein, I went to sleep. In the middle of the night I woke after a short disturbing dream. I was trapped on a dangerous island, alone, without supplies. Somehow I sensed [...]
Fresh Every Morning
Good morning... Fortunately, God does not come to us in just one life-altering moment, whispering from within, "You are fully known. You are fully loved. You don't need to pretend to be anyone." Instead God comes to us again and again, in refreshing new ways, day after day. The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23, NLT). I think to myself, "What are [...]
You Are Fully Loved
Good morning... "Good morning Sue," she wrote after yesterday's post, Some Parents Do Harm. "I discovered this beautiful book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charles Mackesy. Wow! It is a true gem that echoes your message today. Below is a link to his story and two touching pages from the book - just amazing!" Enrolled together in the school of unlearning, unlearning from the hard knocks of comparing [...]
Some Parents Do Harm
Good morning... "When parents are positive, you become positive, and hopefully you pass that positivity to your children," our subscriber concluded in yesterday's post, Make Good Lemonade. Next my mind asked the flip-sided question, "What happens when parents are negative?" Well, we know "negative" and "positive" are relative terms, and all parenting lives on a subjective spectrum. "Good parents" have bad moments and "bad parents" have good ones. Yet relentless negativity can contort [...]
Make Good Lemonade
Good morning... "I thoroughly enjoyed last week's post about the power of perspective," one subscriber wrote. "It resonated with me and my family history. My parents were born in the United States but my grandparents were born in Japan. My grandparents immigrated to the United States when they were teenagers looking for a better life. My parents lived in California and were typical teenagers, my mother a graduate of high school and my father [...]
One Tender Tribute
Good morning... "As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, let us reflect on the tremendous price that was paid by the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country," says the post accompanying this tender YouTube video paying tribute. "Through the sounding of Taps, members of The United States Air Force Band solemnly render honor to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. A long-held [...]
Our 33rd Anniversary
Good morning... Thirty-three years ago today, I walked down the wedding aisle with my dad. Then I walked back up the same aisle married to Steve Allen. I don't think there is any other choice in my lifetime that has paid off such deep, divine dividends. I just finished my annual journey through the pages of Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, written in 1955 and very powerfully poignant for each [...]
All Doors Open
Good morning... I am prayerfully considering which book to teach in our living room next fall, in small groups, sitting six feet apart. With a short stack of possibilities, I read through piles of pages. At the right moment, I trust the Holy Spirit to nudge, "Sue, this is the one I have chosen." "When the sun goes down," writes Barbara Brown Taylor in Learning to Walk In the Dark, one book I [...]
C.S. Lewis Said
Good morning... "The following is from C. S. Lewis," wrote a very special friend. "It was written in 1948 after the dawn of the atomic age." ****** Mr. Lewis wrote: In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London [...]