My Ministry As A Mermaid
Good morning... "Grandma, look, a mermaid!" I heard a little girl's voice shout from the shore as I swam this summer in Tingley Lake. Treading water, I gave my best "nod, smile, wave," like a beloved princess decked out at Disney World. Mermaid. I rarely run into that word, but the day after we returned from visiting family in PA, I happened upon a journal in a discount store. "I am a mermaid," [...]
Our Need To Nestle
Good morning... Before choosing a book for each new semester, I prayerfully nestle into a few chapters from a small handful of possiblilities. God knows what lies before us. God knows our every need. I totally trust the LORD to nudge: "This is the book for the season ahead." Then I put the book down before reading it fresh, week by week, with our classes. Spring 2018 was Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak. [...]
God Rebuilds Us Stronger
Good morning... "Two weeks after our wedding in 1989, we lost our home in Hurricane Hugo," she softly shared with our Monday class. "As a whole community we were in shock, we bonded so deeply, we rallied together. God was so present, in amazing ways. Suffering together through Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD), we pushed through our fears to a new awareness: 'All that was just stuff.'" She went on to say that Charleston, S.C. [...]
Be Your Salty Self
Good morning... Releasing our "secondary loves" into the care of Our First Love, we are silently drawn into unity with the God who created us. I recently read a short story describing creatively the process of us melting into our true, salty self. ****** The Salt Doll by Anthony de Mello (1931-1987) A salt doll journeyed for thousands of miles over land, until it finally came to the sea. It was fascinated by [...]
Cling To Our First Love
Good morning... When life crumbles all around us, we cling to the God who gives us breath. During our Friday morning class, I read aloud these convicting words. ****** Excerpt from Paula D'Arcy's Seeking God With All My Heart On retreat in Indiana, I listened to a tape recording of a talk by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen was challenging his audience to claim the "First Love," the love of God, from within. He warned [...]
Pray For Displaced “Nomads”
Good morning... Our friend missed class on Friday. She was on the panhandle of Florida surveying the devastation. Friday night she sent me a picture of the calm, gorgeous water after the storm with an email describing her family's experience. With her permission, I share her words with you. ****** Our Friday Morning Friend's Experience of Hurricane Michael Hi Sue! We battened down the hatches on our home in Watercolor on Tuesday and [...]
Whose Voice Do You Believe?
Good morning... In our Friday class, one young mom shared the title of a song that she and her daughters sing at the top of their lungs. This morning, relax into the beauty of this down-to-earth voice singing life-giving lyrics: "You Say" by Lauren Daigle. Finally, my dear friends, be glad that you belong to the Lord (Philippians 3:1a). ...Sue...
Rebuilding Life’s Wreckage
Good morning... Gone. Eerie. Devastating. These are just a few of the words traveling from Florida's panhandle through our TV screens. Shattering. Twisting. Splintering. Aerial images of Mexico Beach show the ravages of Hurricane Michael. Power out. War zone. Ground zero. At ground zero, our lives are reduced to rubble. From the raw wreckage, we stumble into the first and the final lines of a poem by Rumi entitled "An Empty Garlic." He begins: "You [...]
We Wade In To Help Out
Good morning... As I write it is dark, it is wet, it is windy, with Georgia being the second state in Hurricane Michael's path. When light dawns on this day, what widespread devastation will be revealed? Whatever we face, we face together with God. Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is [...]
Let’s Say I’m A Plumber
Good morning... "Let's say I'm a plumber," said Dallas Wallard during an interview with Jan Johnson, "and I'm going to clean out someone's sewer. How will I do this as Jesus would do it? If you encounter difficulties with the people you're serving or with the pipe or machinery, you never fight that battle alone. You invoke the presence of God. You expect to see something happen that is not the result of [...]
Our Hidden Sprinkler
Good morning... Okay, I just have to tell you a really embarrassing story. One summer day, I parked our van in the garage like normal, like I do every day. As I walked around the back bumper into our house, I noticed a plastic box hanging on the garage wall. "Huh," I thought, "I've never seen that before." On the box I read the word "SPRINKLES" with a phone number below. I opened [...]
Eat Fresh Fruit From This Tree
Good morning... The first Adam paved a wide path to sin and separation from God. Our human feet just naturally followed. When the moment was right, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, zipped up a suit of skin and came down from heaven to walk with us on earth, blazing a new path for us to return home to God. Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and [...]