Living On The Slant
Good morning... In the midst of my prayer time, God is growing in me a fresh thought, a new-to-me idea, the spark of the small, simple diagram pictured above. I am certain that this line of thinking has been explored by other curious brains, as Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 (CEV) reminds us: Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the sun. Someone might say, “Here is something new!” But it happened before, long before we were born. The difference for [...]
Savor Sabbath: Be Praying
Good morning... "You’ve always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, a lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest," says Psalm 61:3-5 in the Message translation. "You’ve always taken me seriously, God, made me welcome among those who know and love you." Morning by morning, we curl up on the couch of prayer not only to take breathing room for ourselves but also to [...]
Strong At Our Core
Good morning... After being shaped by the diligent joy of writing to you each morning, I often go back into our blog post and edit as the Spirit moves. Yesterday that happened. Making our message more concise and most life-giving, I re-wrote our final sentence to read: "As we stay right in the center of God's endless love, Christ's constant companionship displaces the worry in our heart and at our core we begin [...]
Better Together
Good morning... 2 Corinthians 8:10-20 The Message So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The [...]
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. [...]