My Feelings Were Hurt
Good morning... My feelings were hurt. After I had prayed diligently for the months leading up to our second "Awake To Wellness Retreat," after I had left my family behind to travel from Atlanta to Orlando, after we had passionately provided a day of music and teaching, poems and prayers, videos and stories about the life of Christian mentor Betty Skinner, at the end of the day a well-dressed woman stopped me and [...]
Savor This Sunday: Witness God
Good morning... As we savor this Sunday, some college football fans wake elated, others wake frustrated, yet all of us wake up to witness the presence God. As we harness this new habit of peering back before moving forward, we review the week we have experienced together through our everyday blog. Our focus phrase is: Witness God. Enjoy revisiting messages you love most or catching up on blog posts you may have missed [...]
Aging Is Hard
Good morning... "Aging is really, really hard," 92 year old Betty Skinner admits as we share lunch in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Her eyesight has dimmed. Her hearing is weak. The energy she used to take full advantage of has diminished. Yet contagious joy still beams through her presence. Irresistible. Unmistakable. Captivating calm. "People think they come to see me," Betty muses, "but they really come to spend time with God." Might the pain of [...]
Aging Beautifully
Good morning... From Orlando, today I will drive two and a half hours to Ponte Vedra, Florida to share lunch with 92 year old Betty Skinner. It will be my third lunch with Betty, a tiny, tenacious woman who exhales God's joyous peace with each treasured breath. Nearing the end of her life, Betty shares a beautiful perspective on the process of aging in the prologue of this book I so deeply love. [...]
I Crave Your Love
Good morning... Last March, we hosted the first "Awake To Wellness Women's Retreat" here in Atlanta, Georgia. Remember those two special, sacred days? Today in Orlando, Florida, we will host the second "Awake To Wellness Retreat," as I join mesmerizing pianist Dana Cunningham and talented authors Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp. Together we will to bring to life wisdom from their book The Hidden Life Awakened. My task for the day is [...]
Our Anxious Helping Can Hurt
Good morning... My inbox was inundated after yesterday's post, I Was Just Trying To Help. Often we are blind to the ways our "helping" hurts. I will share three email exchanges fleshing out our tendency to addictively "help" without God's consent. Why do we think we are a better savior than our Savior? ****** Martha's comment: "Oh Sue what a beautiful post. I shall keep this in my "one day at a time...help for [...]
I Was Just Trying To Help
Good morning... "Listen to your life," says Fredrick Buechner, writer, preacher, theologian. "See it for the fathomless mystery it is...touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." (Listening To Your Life, 1) We just had a conversation that did not go well. It ended in silent separation, feelings hurt. Now we endure a stand [...]
Power In Our Pilot Light
Good morning... "God has shown me that the light within me cannot be extinguished," wrote our friend Mary as she grieves the loss of her son, "but there are times when it will be faint, and other times when it will burn bright. The Holy Spirit, the light, is always there within! He shows me that there is an abundance of light and love and joy within me that must be shared with [...]
Savor This Sunday: God’s Inner Light
Good morning... I am sensing God inviting us to develop a new habit. "Savor This Sunday" will be a fresh feature added to our everyday blog. Every Sunday we take extended time to savor the spiritual growth we are experiencing together, week after week. Summing up the Spirit's wisdom, Sundays will offer an overview of each daily message with an easy link to revisit posts we may have loved or messages we may [...]
We Grieve Some Holidays
Good morning... "I must admit that I am THANKFUL to have another Thanksgiving behind me," a subscriber from Charlotte, N.C. writes as she grieves the loss of her young adult son. "Yesterday was tough, and also were the days leading up to it. The anticipation alone puts me in a state of angst, frustration, sadness and anger, all within an hour!" I asked Mary, whom I have never met, if I might share [...]
Back To God’s Vine
Good morning... Today is a new day. The sins of yesterday need not expand into the sins of today. Ugly thoughts. Biting words. Selfish deeds. Together with God, we can nip these painful buds right off our branch, letting them fall to the ground, to become humbling hummus for the soil beneath our feet. As we allow our attention to travel from the troubled tentacles at our tips, back down beneath our bark [...]
Focus On What “Is”
Happy Thanksgiving... As we focus on what "is" gratitude grows. "Will I stop focusing forever on what was not given to me," wonders Paula D'Arcy, "and stop regretting the gifts that were brief?" That is a challenging question. Stop focusing on not. Stop regretting brief. As long as we focus forever on what was not given and repeatedly regret gifts that were brief, we will cause ourselves pain. As we focus on what "is" [...]