Uncanny Strength, Inside Out
Good morning... When I look at ordinary people of faith, I marvel at God growing uncanny strength, from inside out. In the past 24-hours I witnessed the resilience of a down-to-earth family who has endured a lot of heartache over the years. Certainly, their cancer journey has taken an exhausting toll, but more than weathering them weak, I have seen them grow unexplainable strong. The shock of Tuesday's scan results first brought unstoppable tears [...]
Wait Or Work?
Good morning... "I don’t feel terribly convicted about anything right now," a reader from South Carolina admitted after yesterday's post, Waiting Without Words. "I don’t feel 'on fire' or on a mountaintop. Thank goodness I’m not in a dark valley, but I do feel as though I am merely existing. Yesterday I was a bit sad that I couldn’t hear God so clearly, and your comments today have lifted my spirit. I will [...]
Waiting Without Words
Good morning... "The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear," say the words on a framed treasure from Goodwill. I stare at the wisdom, thinking to myself, "That sounds really nice, but I have been quiet now for an uncomfortably long time, and I cannot seem to hear one darn, divine thing." Possibilities perks up before dying down. Writer's block is a real thing. Hearer's block is real too. Might there also [...]
Take A Breath
Good morning... In lingering silence, I am drawn back to an email. "I will miss our Monday visit to your living room this week, but thought you might enjoy this blessing as much as I do," she wrote. "Hope all is well in your busy world." ****** Blessing from Bishop Rob Wright May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression [...]
Savor Sabbath: What Is Dawning?
Good morning... "Nice message," she wrote following yesterday's post. "We were watching the sunrise this morning in Santa Rosa beach and read today’s message. Chills. Love to you. Xo." This cooler fall morn, what do we sense dawning? "God's perfect timing ❤️," whispers our reader. As we nestle into God's perfect timing wherever we are, let's touch the "past blog posts" button below to witness God's harmonious light dawning within and among us this unique [...]
Love With God
Good morning... "By doing the work of honoring, balancing, and integrating your inner life and your outer life," says wisdom from yesterday's post, "you will be able to more purely love God by offering your whole self to the work of love." Honor. Balance. Integrate. Inner life and outer life. Love God more purely. Offer whole self completely. Surrender to the work of love. God’s love and kindness will shine upon us like [...]
Our Hidden Power
Good morning... I was captivated by yesterday's post on The Hidden Life Awakened website, a website beautifully created by the co-author of a book with the same name, my dear friend Kitty Crenshaw. The blog post reminded me of the life-giving wisdom I soaked in from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm last Friday at the University of Georgia Medical School in Athens as I went to support the book's other author, my fun [...]
Turn Inward For Strength
Good morning... As I read these words aloud to our class yesterday, I wished I could whisper them into the ear of the reader struggling with a sense of uselessness, the many strangers who have lost everything in fire or flood, and my sleepless loved ones worrying, "Has our daughter's cancer returned?" "What authentic work is mine to do?" and "When will Alzheimers free my loved one to heaven?" Written in 1955, nearly sixty-five [...]
When We Feel Useless
Good morning... "Dear friend, as always, I am SOO PROUD of you for this wonderful birth," she wrote after yesterday's post, I Just Birthed A Baby. "You are just in an amazing season of being highly in tune with God's rhythm." She continued: "When you asked the question of us however, what am I pregnant with? I burst into tears- I'm just being honest- I am not sure I am pregnant with anything- [...]
I Just Birthed A Baby
Good morning... I feel like I just birthed a 12 pound baby. Naturally. After three full day of hard, hard labor. Our baby was conceived by God a long while back, but this was the weekend her due date graced my calendar. Sunday was my well anticipated time to deliver. For months and months, really years and years, new life had been growing in me, quietly, slowly. When the time was right, I [...]
Savor Sabbath: Falling This Fall
Good morning... My attention was caught by James 1:19-21 in The Message translation. These three verses whisper saving wisdom to savor this Sabbath. Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, [...]
Look Upside-Down
Good morning... At 3:00 am we received yesterday's post, Will You Fall Upward? Without skipping a beat, at 5:01 am I received in my inbox the continuation of God's life-giving lesson through the morning meditation of Henri Nouwen Society. ****** Henri Nouwen Society DAILY MEDITATION - SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 Our life is a short opportunity to say yes to God’s love. Our death is a full coming home to that love. Do we [...]