I Didn’t Get Much Done
Good morning... I met a poem this weekend that whispered to me about the consistency of life, year by year by year. Our high hopes are laid to rest in the soil of our common ground, and the low lows are lifted up as fodder for our creative connection. ****** "This was the year that was not the year" by Brian Bilston This was the year that was not the year I repaired [...]
Prayer For A New Year
Good morning... This week, a friend from our Sunday afternoon group sent us a prayer written by Howard Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981). We, as a group, read Thurman's influential book Jesus and the Disinherited a few semesters back. Howard Thurman's theology of radical nonviolence has shaped the faith life of generations, and he was a key mentor to leaders within the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr. [...]
2025 Thank. 2026 Trust.
Good morning... As the first light of the new year crept through the slots in our bathroom shutters, I sensed the moon growing pregnant with full potential. Sure enough. The Wolf Supermoon (Wolf named for howling wolves in winter and Supermoon because it coincides with the Moon's closest point to Earth, appearing larger and brighter) will occur on Saturday, January 3, 2026, also giving the appearance of fullness on January 2nd and 4th. [...]
New Phases Of Growth
Good morning... Happy New Year! There is no better way to recognize new phases of growth than to remember where we were while celebrating where we are. Two photos, set side by side, tell the story of natural, unstoppable growth. One is from October; the other was taken last night just after the ball dropped in Time Square. The first was taken the day Cami [...]
10yrs Blogging Daily
Good morning... As this fall semester comes to an end before our winter/spring semester begins, it dawns on me that I have been blogging most days since the fall of 2015. Ten years of waking in the wee hours, opening up two-way-street veins of private prayer, seeking to discern the presence, the patterns, the power of our living Lord. Like any living thing, there are ebbs and there are flows. Growth spurts and [...]
Give A Gratitude Gift?
Good morning... Yesterday's blog post included one of my favorite Bible verses. Before leaving earth for heaven, Jesus told his followers, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV). I have experienced this dynamic spreading through our written word ministry, SueToYou.com. I receive power in [...]
He Lives Among Us
Good morning... After waking from my second sleep, I re-read our post crafted in the wee hours of Saturday morning, Born To Be With Us. Our blog ended with this truth: "Amid all of the tremendous tragedies we face along our journey, from life through death into eternal life with God, Jesus was born to be beside us." In the next moment, I opened the Henri Nouwen meditation for the day. It's as [...]
Born To Be Beside Us
Good morning... In a constant state of amazing love, the vulnerable baby Jesus was born to be beside us. God, in human skin, was born to be beside us as we journey throughout this treacherous life. On Christmas Eve at Northside Church, as I served during the final two worship services, I was asked personally to pray for four different tragedies bonding our community. A head on collision caused by a now deceased [...]
A Baby Not Yet Speaking
Good morning... My favorite Christmas song reached me when Steve and I were newlyweds. The acapella group Glad harmonized the meaning of that first Christmas morn with their song In the First Light. This special song was produced in 1988, when I was 25 years old. Enjoy these lyrics before experiencing this powerful song. In the first light of a new day No one knew He had arrived Things continued as they had [...]
I Invite You To Worship
Good morning... Christmas Eve offers magical moments. When and where might you worship? I invite you to join us at Northside Church, with FIVE worship opportunities on Christmas Eve. The Nativity Animals will join us outside from 9:30AM to 4:30PM. Wednesday, December 24 10:00AM | Family Service in the Sanctuary* 12:00PM | Family Service in the Sanctuary 2:00PM | Family Service in the Sanctuary 4:00PM | Contemporary Service in the Faith & Arts [...]
Joy On My Parents’ Face
Good morning... This week we received handwritten envelops, one for Steve and me as well as one addressed personally to each of our four kids and our daughter-in-law. At ages 88 and 87, my parents are still sending out Christmas cards. Pretty amazing, right? I took this photo as I visited with them in Ohio earlier this month. Look at their faces. My mom's broad, easy smile. The mischievous twinkle in my dad's [...]
You Will Recognize Him
Good morning... What should be easy, is hard. What usually takes no time, is taking forever. What I often take for granted, is not happening right now. Plagued by continued computer issues, my communication is halted. No emails have come into my inbox since 12/19. Ugh. Unable to share new photos, I went back to this old image previously shared. Baby Jesus in a manger resting beneath the star. God, what am I [...]