My Porch Light Is On
Good morning... When we moved into the tiny, Pennsylvania town-of-my-dreams in the third week of June in 2001, our kids were six, four, two, and two weeks old. As God had planned our placement perfectly, my next door neighbor, Betsy, was also nurturing a two year old and a two week old. Betsy and I became fast, deep-seeded friends, a friendship fueled by our frequent morning walk-and-talks. Here is how it worked for [...]
“Biopsy” Is Not Benign
Good morning... Wow. Yesterday I learned a startling truth: the word "biopsy" is not benign. Benign means good and mild, gentle and kind, tender and harmless. I know the word "biopsy" is not benign, because it caused a fearful stir. I quoted Erwin Raphael McManus in my post yesterday, a post entitled 911 Moments Form Our Faith. McManus wrote, "Even as I write these words, I am a few hours away from learning [...]
911 Moments Form Our Faith
Good morning... Yesterday, September 10th, was the first anniversary of a very significant loss. Loved ones leaned in, joined together, and shared love. Today, September 11th, is the seventeenth anniversary of another devastating loss. Our nation leans in, joins together, and resists hate. I am reminded of the life altering effects of 9/11/01 as I read these words written by a speaker I saw this summer. ****** The Last Arrow by Erwin Raphael McManus "There [...]
Seeking With All My Heart
Good morning... I will facilitate our first class this afternoon, kicking off our Fall 2018 semester. God usually coaxes me to teach a random, deep-seeded read, a book that never hopes to be a New York Times bestseller. For some reason it was extra hard to discern God's pick for this particular season. I was drawn to a handful of tantalizing titles, and, as usual, I read through the first two or three chapters [...]
Aging Into Life’s Random Dots
Good morning... As you can tell, I think we do well to age gently into the passage of time. When we relax, reflect, and renew our mind, we will find God's deeper meaning connecting our daily dots. Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character]; And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you; Or speak to the earth [with [...]
Gratitude Rocks Back And Forth
Good morning... I have loved rocking back and forth with you again on the front porch of our lives, enjoying interactive intimacy this first week of September. I share with you Holy Spirit wisdom from my wee morning hours, and you return to me kind words of affirmation, day after day. When I lean back to listen to this week's online conversation, I patch together a soft, king sized quilt. Here are the [...]
Wisdom Melts Into Love
Good morning... I cannot tell you the number of times someone will say to me, "I loved your post this morning." Way too often my honest response is this: "Really? Remind me. What did I write about today?" In the early morning dawn, I spend hours and hours crafting daily messages, but after I press "send" to you, my friend, the fresh wisdom melts from my conscious mind into the way I live. [...]
The Mystery Of Manna
Good morning... Like morning manna falling for the first followers, God rains down the nourishment we each need for this day. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was (Exodus 16:14-15a, NLT). By the way, the footnote in my Bible says, "The word 'manna' is a transliteration [...]
We Are Held In God’s Hands
Good morning... All summer long, I rested in the hands of our divine Daddy and nested in the challenging comfort of two Scripture verses. Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV) speaks God's unsettling truth. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. God knows, God understands. We do not know, we cannot [...]
Unpacking Summer 2018
Good morning... “The unexamined life is not worth living,” famously said Socrates. I am not sure I totally agree, "not worth living" may be an absurd absolute. Instead I would say, "An examined life is much more enjoyable." We live the stuff of life once, and, as we examine it and re-examine it, we make deeper connections, we incorporate purposeful meaning, and we see our one-of-a-kind life, the highs and the lows, through [...]
Glow From Within
Good morning... You know I wake up whenever God wakes me. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught (Isaiah 50:4b, NIV). First things first. I brew a few mugs of coffee, I curl up in silent solitude, and, with a great sense of expectancy, I open my Bible, my journal, and my whole heart. Every morning, I trust God to speak into my mind a [...]
Painting More Than 1,000 Words
Good morning... I have been living the lyrics of an old song all summer long: "God, if a picture paints a thousand words then why can't I paint You?" Feeling drawn to the possibility of adding pictures to our everyday blog, I asked a photographer friend where to begin. She suggested two options. I could buy the latest iPhone with it's amazing camera or I could borrow a point-and-shoot camera she had bought [...]