Wonderful Is Happening
Good morning... "Christ is the one whose center is everywhere," says St. Bonaventure, "and whose circumference is nowhere." Intriguing dichotomy, right? Center - everywhere. Circumference - nowhere. As I ponder the possibilities, into the subject line of Biblegateway.com I type this phrase: "center Christ." Three Scripture verses pop up and beg for our attention. All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep [...]
As I Pray For This Day
Good morning... In my quiet time of prayer I think about our Jewish friends who witnessed the stabbing of hatred in the safety of their rabbi's home, the shock of Sunday morning worshippers fired upon by a gunman in the sacredness of their small sanctuary, and the complex grief of the family and friends of those misguided men now and forever labeled "killers." Honestly, I do not know exactly what my silent prayers [...]
How To Fall Asleep
Happy New Year... "I cannot pray at night in bed," many people confess to me. "I just end up falling asleep. I feel so bad falling asleep on God." In response I always say, "The way I see it, there is no better way to fall asleep." Drifting to sleep sharing thoughts with God, what could be better? In fact, I think falling asleep in prayer is exactly what happens in Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV). I can [...]
Three Things I Am Thankful For
Good morning... As 2019 tips into 2020, today is a day of looking back before we move forward. As I reminisce about the experiences of our online community this year, there are three things for which I feel most grateful. This is the year we shifted from me taking summers off from daily blog writing to become an online community that intimately interacts 365 days each year. I am most grateful for the [...]
Unmet Expectations
Good morning... I was looking forward to our time together, sharing face-to-face, one-on-one. I was hoping for an important, intimate conversation. I was anticipating wonderful, but completely against my will wonderful changed its form. I was disappointed. Frustrated. Mad that my well formed expectations were not being met. If I had stayed angrily stuck on how I thought our time would be best spent, I might have missed the unexpected blessings that grew [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Reunited
Good morning... As an online community, we traveled different paths leading up to Christmas morn. Some signed up for the daily Advent devotional I wrote for our church, "With God Weather Life." Some chose not to subscribe to receive our morning messages. Along with these online posts, some enjoyed a hard copy of the material, a soft small printed version which included black and white pictures of my beautiful broken shells along with [...]
3:00 A.M. Anxiety
Good morning... Fears. Finances. Future plans. What worries wake you in the tiny hours of the morning? Hopes. Have-to's. Hard decisions. Anxieties arouse us, stirring us from sleep. Regrets. Repeat obsessions. Relationship tensions. As our mind reels, our conflicted heart feels. That is why this quote recently sent to me by a friend touches a tricky truth. Personally, I often experience 3:00 A.M. as God's finest hour. My anxious unravellings in the darkness [...]
When We Feel MisUNDERstood
Good morning... As I journal with God this morning before our crowded house wakes up, I feel mysteriously drawn to create two lists on one page. On the left I jot the heading OVER. On the right I write UNDER. Then I allow words to popcorn into place. OVER - Overwhelmed. Overlooked. Over-served. Overextended. Overspending. Overindulging. Overanalyzing. Overeating. Overweight. Overstimulated. Overcommitted. Over it all. UNDER - Underfoot. Undervalued. Under-fire. Underlying. Underpaid. Under-pressure. Underestimated. Under-appreciated. [...]
Our Newly Born Power
Good morning... Blinking open his five senses to novel sights, smells, and sounds, the newly born Jesus ...was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice (John 1:10b, MSG). Noticing Immanuel, God's powerful presence with us, does not happen immediately. Often, especially during the hectic of the holidays, we have a hard time seeing the newly born qualities of Christ growing in us. Most of us have [...]
Savor Advent 2019
Good morning... In yesterday's post, A Pleasant Surprise, I shared with you the introduction to our 2019 Advent devotional, With God Weather Life. During this Advent season, we as a community will celebrate together the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and savor each day in between, starting today. In case you have not yet signed up to receive our daily devotionals (which will take the place of our SueToYou blog posts from [...]
A Pleasant Surprise
Good morning... I woke this morning to a pleasant surprise. Blessing my inbox at 3:00 am was the introduction to our With God Weather Life Advent devotional. After I had labored hard to deliver the heavy manuscript, I gifted to the church the baby God had conceived in my soul's womb. Our talented Creative Services department added gorgeous photos, printed devotional books, and pre-programmed our online devotional for interested subscribers. Tomorrow, December 1st, [...]
Our Security Blanket
Good morning... I woke from a brief nap yesterday with an interesting image saturating my mind. I sensed I had been in the presence of Jesus, as if our living LORD had really responded to my early morning prayer, "Steal My Show." Mysteriously it seemed he had actually come from heaven to our home, and I caught him in action like one of our kids once caught the tooth fairy. Then before he could [...]