Everything Can Happen
Good morning... Well, two things can be true. First, after playing terribly and losing 4-1 to Belgium in last night's game, the USA soccer team will not win the 2026 World Cup. Second, I love a creative commercial which brings to life our high hopes as a hosting nation. Stepping over the division, controversy, and corruption running rampant, it is fun to come together to cast a unifying vision, believing "Everything Can Happen," [...]
The Wonder Of World Cup
Good morning... The 2026 World Cup action has been thrilling and frustrating, exciting and heartbreaking, bonding and controversial. Tonight the USA team plays Belgium at 8:00 pm, and many across the globe will experience the wide range of emotions wired into each human heart. "The world is meant to meet," is a phase that lingers from one of my favorite World Cup commercials. The goodness of God shines forth as we meet, connect, [...]
Charlie Means “Free Man”
Good morning... This is one of my favorite pictures of Charlie, our first grandchild. His official name is Charles Shepherd Allen, and Charles means "free man." This name matters a lot to our family, because Charles (Charlie), like all of us, is born into the freedom Jesus Christ purchased on the cross, once and for all. Christ has set us free! Stand fast therefore in the liberty whereby Christ has made us free, [...]
Our Grandson’s First Visit
Good morning... A friend just happened to send me this happy yellow saying on the morning our first grandson visited our home for the first time. I witnessed this enduring truth in action. Charlie is being smiled into smiling, loved into loving and eventually he will be talked into talking and sung into singing. This is the embodiment of true [...]
Find Me And Free Me
Good morning... Since our two years of training ended in 2017, four of us spiritual directors meet monthly by phone for peer supervision. We live in different states and see one another very rarely, but our two hour conversations are some of my favorite moments every month. This month the person facilitating read aloud an opening prayer written by Ted Loder. Listening intently, we were hooked by different phrases. Before our fertile phone [...]
Her Incurable Cancer
Good morning... For months and months, I have diligently prayed for my lifetime friend in Norway. Just now, we are exchanging emails in the middle of this dark night. She wrote yesterday. "Thanks for keeping me so close! The summary from today’s consultation is that the current treatment does not work anymore. The oncologist suggests alternative chemo, maybe in August. She says my body, especially the bone marrow, needs rest. I agree totally! [...]
Watch What Happens Next
Good morning... When we urgently pray for clarity, like we did in yesterday's post, we watch expectantly for whatever happens next. We went to bed praying for our friend's deep need for God's guidance. Then we woke to the following text. "As you get out of bed in the morning, be aware of My Presence with you. You may not be thinking clearly yet, but I am. Your early morning thoughts tend to [...]
We Pray For Clarity
Good morning... Tonight's first full moon of the summer will peak at 7:57 pm. It's called the Strawberry Moon, referring to the fact that strawberries typically ripen and are ready around this time of the year, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. As I am learning to discern distinctions in the dark, the moon appears full to our naked eyes the night before and the night after any full moon appears. So last [...]
Getting To The Heart Of Us
Good morning... As our Thursday group met this month, we began our time by reading aloud this prayer from the Ignatian exercises. Then we unpacked the most famous verse from the book of Micah. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. - [...]
Sing. Dance. It’s Your Chance.
Good morning... I went to the estate sale of a friend who was retiring and moving after thirty fertile years. Instantly, I was drawn to the plaque hanging in her kitchen: "Feel free to sing and dance - you many not get a second chance." So I dished out the $2.00 and came home with the fun find. It didn't take long for God to connect the dots between this happy gift, a [...]
Our Tangled-Up Hearts
Good morning... This quote from Sarah Young's Jesus Always mirrors the quote from Richard Foster's book Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. "The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives— altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. God is big enough to receive [...]
Our Inner Beauty Unfolds
Good morning... "Sue," she wrote this week, "your devotional about wide open spaces made me think of sharing with you the works of John O’Donahue. I learned of him through a good friend who was a Methodist pastor and a missionary to Ghana. I shared with him that the school I was teaching at was a Classical Christian School and believed in the quest for truth, beauty, and goodness. He shared a podcast [...]