Amazing, Awful, Ordinary Life
Good morning... She shared this multifaceted picture taken from her backyard. To my soul, this intriguing photo personifies the quote she also shared. ****** Life is amazing. And then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and the awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That's just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, [...]
We Walk Beside
Good morning... She was worried about her child and the repercussions of a poor decision. Filled with anger and anxiety, her heavy hurting heart pulled her into prayer. "God, please help me as I work with my son," she laid out each facet of fear. After pouring herself out to the very last drop, into her void came a voice. "I am the One working with your son. You are the one walking [...]
Healing People Heal
Good morning... I have heard the expression: "Hurting people hurt." This week I was introduced to the flip side: "Healing people heal." Pondering this phrase in the wee hours of the night, I open an email from Jan Johnson, a California professor from my spiritual direction training program. For me, Jan puts flesh on the bones of these three key words: "Healing people heal." "I have a better life," Jan writes, "if I'm [...]
Dying At Age 41?
Good morning... Yesterday renown basketball player Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash at age 41. I jotted these notes as I listened to the news report. "Legendary advocate for boys sports and girls sports alike. Poised. Self-aware. Hard working. Man of the world. Determined to prove himself. Endured grueling rehab so that our last image of him on the court was close to vintage Kobe Bryant. He scored 60 points in his [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Learning
Good morning... Tonight is a night I have been looking forward to for a long time. At Northside Church we are hosting an important ninety minutes. ****** Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Human Sexuality Presented by Dr. Kendall Soulen, Candler School of Theology Sunday, January 26 | 5:00–6:30PM | Watson Faith & Arts Center, Northside Church, 2799 Northside Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30305 Please join us tonight for part two in our series of [...]
Caught In My Pajamas
Good morning... Okay. So I am an ENFP on the Myers Briggs personality test. Extroverted. Intuitive. Feeling. Perceiving. That's me. Creatively collaborative, highly intuitive, and deeply perceptive, I feel every facet of life with great gusto. As a very strong "P," I get so caught up in the joy of flying that I have a hard time landing the plane, placing the final period, closing the deal because . . . new possibilities always [...]
If We Let Him
Good morning... "It’s the unknown which God's enemy uses to create fear, worry, anxiety," she quietly shared. Once we accept life as it is, uncertainty and all, we can face God's opponent saying with confidence, "You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done" (Genesis 50:20, NCV). With God, good is always being done, lives are always being saved, [...]
I Scarfed Down Three Cookies
Good morning... "God, why did I scarf down three cookies?" became my deep prayer after my impulsive episode. I must tell you, these were not tiny Girl Scout cookies. These three cookies were mammoth mommas. "What was going on in me?" Fear, worry, anxiety. I faced a hard phone call. I didn't know exactly what to say, how I would be received, and if a budding friendship would weather disagreement. I didn't want [...]
See And Experience
Good morning... I woke to the company of an odd phrase. "Before Your word is on my lips." It sounded a bit biblical to me, so I typed the seven words into the subject line of Biblegateway.com. Nothing popped up. No references. No inspiration. I hit a dead end. So, I reduced the seven words down to three. "Before word lips." Two verses popped up. Proverbs 5:3-6 said something about the lips of [...]
How Healing Happens
Good morning... Two quotes of divine wisdom creatively collided and fell into me yesterday. “There's a lovely Hasidic story," writes author Anne Lamott, "of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, 'Why on our hearts, and not in them?' The rabbi answered, 'Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on [...]
Will You Get In The Boat?
Good morning... "On this morning, if I can leave anything with you, let me urge you to be sure that you have a strong boat of faith," said Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on March 3rd, 1968 at Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Atlanta, Georgia. "The winds are going to blow. The storms of disappointment are coming. The agonies and anguishes of life are coming. And be sure your boat is strong, and [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Nesting
Good morning... As I touch on the "Past Blog Posts" button below to review the wisdom woven around us this week, "nest" is the word filling my mind. As a noun, a "nest" is a pocketlike, circular structure of twigs, grass, and mud formed by a bird, often high in a tree, providing a protected place in which to incubate its eggs and rear its young. Transferred to our human experience, a "nest" [...]