Good morning... Yesterday morning, tragedy severed the life of another young man for whom I love to serve homemade Stromboli. Now, huddled together, we nestle into the nurturing nest God is building within our online community. How do we respond to this special kind of grief, processing the life-changing loss of family and friends ravaged by the effects of deep angst and addiction? How will we care for the needs of the most [...]
Stop. Start.
Good morning... Stop rushing. Stop "shushing." Stop judging. Stop begrudging. Stop explaining. Stop complaining. Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops (Proverbs 26:20, NLT). Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm (Psalm 37:8, NLT). The start of an argument is like a water leak— so stop it before real trouble breaks out (Proverbs 17:14, CEV). Stop worry. Start trusting. Stop tension. Start [...]
Stop
Good morning... Yesterday was "Simplify, Sue." Today I sense, "Stop." "Stop." "Let go." "Try less." "Quiet down." LORD, let my words be few as I meditate upon You. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14, AMP). ...Sue... Personal Note To Sue Past Blog [...]
Simplify, Sue
Happy 4th of July... At 5:30 am, I began diligently trying to discern God's morning message. At 8:00 am today, hard-found words zapped away. Frustrated. Exhausted. Angry at this unexplainable error. I took a deep breath. I closed my computer. I walked away, went on with my day. After waiting awhile, I went back to rewrite. Languish. Listen. Learn. As I went to send once again, our post mysteriously disappeared. Confused. Tired. God, [...]
Cocooned In God’s Care
Good morning... I woke panicked. Could it be true? I briefly dreamed that my computer was mysteriously downloading thousands, and thousands, and thousands more email addresses for new subscribers, before sending out our morning message, blanketing a growing multitude with God's peace, power, protection. Then suddenly a large scale, mass tragedy struck, and miraculously, together, we were shielded from harm, cocooned in God's care, kept safe, sound, secure. Why panic? The unforced rhythms [...]
Rest By The Ocean
Good morning... “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?" asks Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30, in the Message translation. "Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn [...]
We Share Life’s Load
Good morning... "It’s so interesting, Sue," looking back over June one of you wrote, "when you felt the leading of the Spirit to continue to write during the summer months, I grieved for you. (See our post My Change Of Heart). I grieved the loss of freedom of time and the setting aside of responsibility for you. I know you well enough that you were willing to sacrifice that 'summer pause' in order [...]
Savor Sabbath: God Loves Through Us
Good morning... While my husband and I were talking about the cartoon from our post yesterday, he said, "It reminds me of a commonly used sermon illustration." He went on to ask, "When it comes to making a bacon and egg breakfast, what is the difference between the chicken and the pig? (.....Drum roll please.....) The chicken makes a contribution, the pig makes a commitment." This Sabbath Sunday, when I look back over [...]
A Crazy-Making Cartoon
Good morning... I chuckled when I saw this cartoon at the bottom of last week's email from my friend Emily Wingfield. I chuckled, and I felt convicted. This cartoon parks in the lane of our shared hardened handicap, the handicap of our old human nature. We look around us and we want change, but we look inside ourselves to see, "To really make change, my big 'I' must die." We enthusiastically raise our [...]
A Very Lonely Place
Good morning... Raise your hand if you have ever been in a "Meal Train," a group organizing meals after a birth, a death, a grueling medical journey. At least in Atlanta, I would say over ninety percent of the women I know have participated in a "Meal Train" sign up at some point, either giving or receiving love-laden meals. Last week, I signed up to deliver a yummy meal, so yesterday I bought [...]
“Use Me.”
Good morning... "Horrific," one of you wrote after yesterday's post, My Piece In The Puzzle Of Poverty. "It is just absolutely horrific the pain and suffering of this world. I heard a really good sermon on Sunday about Luke 9:11-17 - we sin in solidarity and our salvation is in solidarity, and if we look at the world as if we need each other to grow whole, then none of us will be [...]
My Piece Of The Poverty Puzzle
Good afternoon... Like me, you have probably seen yesterday's haunting image of the migrant dad with his toddler daughter tucked beneath his shirt, laying dead on the shore, after trying to swim to freedom in America. Tragic. Disturbing. Gut-Wrenching. But what can I do in Atlanta about this humanitarian crisis on our border? Then I watched America's Got Talent last night, curled up, couch to couch, with our twenty year old daughter. One [...]