Savor Sabbath: Be At Home
Good morning... Our individual hearts are held at home by God as we, individually, hold God in the home our hearts. As we partner with God on the dance floor of life, we listen to the inner music and sway in sync. As she dances with God, I have been dancing beside ninety-four-year-old Betty Skinner since 2007, but right now is the first time my whole self is swept up in the crescendo [...]
Slow Dance With The Sun
Good morning... After a long, laboring string of rainy dark days, the sun peaked out to pierce the pane of our living room window. As I nestle into the corner of our couch, I close my eyes and turn my face directly into the sun. Intense light penetrates me. Illuminating warmth soothes my cheeks. My baking brain surrenders again to the Father/Son/Spirit. I turn my body away from the sun's burning stream, and [...]
We Are Whole
Good morning... Our wholeness is not measured by our looks or our feelings, our accomplishments or our bank account, our reputation or our fickle opinions. Our wholeness is rooted, established, grounded in our living LORD, who was, and is, and is to come. Secure from the beginning of time until the last breath of eternity, alive with Christ we are whole and complete. Bit by bit, might an awareness of our wholeness wake [...]
Another Part Of My Husband’s Heart
Good morning... When my husband was in college, he took a trip to Israel with a small group of students and his favorite professor. Something important awakened in Steve as he walked the steps of Jesus, read Bible stories in the places they actually occurred, and collaborated on the questions of faith brewing in his heart. Walking and talking through that holy land, God solidified in Steve Allen his call into the ministry. [...]
Good. Better. Best.
Good morning... "Nothing on our spiritual journey is ever final," says The Hidden Life Awakened on page 104. "It is an ongoing process moving us deeper and deeper. It is a continuous change and movement from what is good (that place where most of us live, desiring to love and serve God) to what is better (an open and intense desire to hear God) to what is best (when all of our prayer [...]
The Heart Of My Husband
Good morning... Over the past few days, I have heard from many of you about disappointments, dashed dreams, hopes piling high before falling apart. It is important for us to share our stories of life's imperfect moments as we rise up from our low points, learning key lessons. 1) We are not alone when life gets hard. We breathe with God's breath, "It's okay to not be okay." 2) We rebuild resilience with [...]
We All Wrestle
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she wrote after yesterday's widely viewed post. "What I really love about today’s post is that this unknown Alabama resident was mentally/physically wrestling with anxiety while you were at the wrestling duels! My son wrestles too and I was in Macon that weekend as well." She explained: "Think about how hard these athletes work for two minutes at a time as they wrestle each other and how this is exactly [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Thirsty
Good morning... A few weeks back, when I was sitting in the Macon Coliseum watching our son and his teammates wrestle in the State Duels team tournament, I received an unusual text. "Hi Sue. I was given your number through someone else. My name is _____ and I could use a lot of help." "Hi ____," I texted back. "I am happy to help. Let me know what I might do to be [...]
Wise Words From A Coach
Good morning... I have been pondering a portion of the Richard Rohr quote shared in our recent post Our Uphill Climb. "...do not waste a moment of time lamenting poor parenting, lost job, failed relationship, physical handicap, gender identity, economic poverty, or even the tragedy of any kind of abuse," wrote Rohr. In my heart of hearts, I disagree. Lamenting is not a waste of time. Our deep sadness turns to settled joy [...]
God’s Variety This Valentine’s Day
Good morning... God's friendly mystery takes different forms and the living Christ rays out in all directions, God's Word made flesh, the Light of life for all people. Parts of God's colorful prism resonate differently with each of us, but let's enjoy this sacred song and celebrate together this God-given, glorious day. At the beginning God expressed himself. That personal expression, that word, was with God, and was God, and he existed with [...]
Our Uphill Climb
Good morning... "I'm glad God is not fair," said the middle aged man who battled through life-shattering addiction to become a husband at age forty-two and a father at forty-four then again at forty-six. His story reminds me of the quote that ends Falling Upward by Richard Rohr. "Just remember: no one can keep you from the second half of your own life except yourself," writes Rohr. "Nothing can inhibit your second journey [...]
Stuck In Between
Good morning... She sat with me peacefully honest, straddling the first half of life and the second, shedding her false self to free her true, mothering a teenage son, no longer a boy, not quite at man. When she pulled out her phone and slowly read aloud to me this poem, my heart resonated with each word. What does your heart feel as you sit in peaceful honesty, slowly whispering this poem to [...]