From Our Shutdown Up God’s Staircase
Good morning... I had a message all written and scheduled to arrive in your inbox at 3:00 am today. Then God woke me around 2:20 am with an anxious dream that took hours to develop into this brand new message. Let me tell you about it. I dreamed that I had missed not one but two emails inviting me to speak at noon today in Washington, D.C. There was to be a luncheon [...]
Savor Sabbath: Wait And Watch
Good morning... I love the tense of the verb in Revelation 21:5a (NIV). “I am making everything new!” "I am making everything new," says the Sustainer of life. Not I will make everything new. Or I was going to make everything new, but I changed My mind when I saw humanity's mess. When we savor Sabbath, stopping and resting, watching and waiting, we witness small, tangible ways our God is making everything new, within and [...]
Waiting We Receive Power
Good morning... "I don't know if you get the messages from the chaplains at Lovett," she wrote yesterday, "but this week's aligns so beautifully with your waiting season." My husband is one of the chaplains at The Lovett School, and I have heard him talk about the devotional emails this talented team sends out each week, but I have never experienced the messages myself, until today. Please enjoy with me this wise perspective on [...]
We Hate To Wait
Good morning... We hate to wait. We hate to wait for sunrise. We hate to wait for pain to pass. We hate to wait for seeds to sprout. We hate to wait for needs to be met. We hate to wait for results to return. We hate to wait for healing to happen. We hate to wait for discomfort to dissolve. We hate to wait for clear answers to come. We hate to [...]
As We Wait God Expands
Good morning... You early risers had to wait for today's message, just like I was forced to wait by the computer glitches I wrote about yesterday (touch "Previous" above to revisit our post). As I waited and waited, the prayer forming in me morphed into more. “God, help me to be patient with Your timing. Please hold me as I wait amid the wreckage of my will. Sensing Your skin on my naked skin, [...]
God Holds Us
Good morning... Writing my notes of encouragement for the "treasure boxes" being filled for our two spiritual mentors, I hit a computer glitch. Then another. And another. The little, colorful spinning wheel just kept on spinning. I was forced to wait. Time was running out on the deadline. How would this important task get done? I had to get to my next commitment. Frustrated. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. I broke into tears. I broke into tears. Then [...]
T.S. Eliot Quote
Good morning... "I said to my soul, be still, and wait . . . So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing." This T.S. Eliot quote begins our new book for the semester, When The Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd. "What does this quote mean?" we wondered aloud as a class. Now I ask you as a reader, "What does this quote mean to you, right now?" Before [...]
Waiting Together Near And Far
Good morning... "Is the study you are about to begin, When The Heart Waits, available online?" she emailed to inquire. "I would sure like to participate. I have already ordered the book. I live in Winnipeg, Canada. Thanks. Sharing His Love." Lifted by God's Spirit, I responded right away. "So excited to be connected to you. I facilitate face to face, collaborative discussions in our living room with small groups of women on Mondays, Wednesdays, and [...]
Savor Sabbath: Flock Together
Good morning... This week we have discovered the beautiful art of murmuration. Allowing space in our togetherness, God empowers us as we flock together. I was reminded of this concept as I read the introductory page of a study being offered at our church this semester, Breathe: Making Room for Sabbath by Priscilla Shirer. Priscilla writes a dedication to her close friends Kay Arthur and Beth Moore, two faithful teachers who have deeply [...]
God Fills The Space Between Us
Good morning... What does the invisible love of God look like visibly, as the Holy Spirit morphs fluidly between our individuality and our cohesiveness? “Let there be spaces in your togetherness," says Khalil Gibran in his most famous literary work, The Prophet. "And let the winds of the heavens dance between you." "Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup," he continues. "Give one another of your bread but eat not [...]
How To Heal Our Division
Good morning... Yesterday morning our fascinating post about the murmuration of starlings was the most widely viewed post in a very long time. The videos, spectacular. Unifying synchronicity, mesmerizing. God's invisible power made visible, thought-provoking. Then last night I turned on the news to witness wild division, and I remembered the visual of different sections of the murmuration parting widely for a while. I was drawn to re-read these words from our post: "So one [...]
Our Flock Of Seven
Good morning... Inspired by our post about the unifying synchronicity of the leaf-feather-stick trio resting on the sands of Grayton Beach, Florida, one of you turned me on to the God-designed instinct implanted in starlings. "When you read about what murmuration is, you will see lots of possibilities for how groups/teams/families/systems might work together to flex and adapt to change. Without the top down hierarchy that causes problems during periods of great change!" [...]