Breathe God In And Out
Good morning... Alongside our own morning messages, I receive one other online devotional. The Henri Nouwen Society sends out select words from Nouwen's plethora of books. Deep. Short. Touching. Most days I make time to mull over these meaningful meditations. This week Nouwen's inspired words have resonated richly with what God is teaching us together. As I work diligently on the manuscript for Northside Church's Summertime Devotional, I smile as I breathe in Nouwen's [...]
Love Multiplies Forever
Good morning... Many of you have written to me about the pain of losing sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, friends and extended family members. Our fruitful branches have been and will be pruned back by the death of a loved one, again and again. We know what it feels like to love and to lose, but do we also notice a new truth emerging? In God's mysterious ways, we love, [...]
Trust Grows In Tragedy
Good morning... Our oldest daughter is the same age as the young adults killed or injured in the Texas tragedy I blogged about yesterday. That car full of college students was heading to Young Life camp in Colorado on the same weekend our college-aged daughter was serving at a Young Life camp in the mountains of north Georgia. In a few weeks, our daughter will also hop in a van full of college students [...]
A Shocking Tragedy
Good morning... I just woke to news of a shocking tragedy. "We need URGENT prayer," an email from a man named Steve was forwarded to me. "There was a tragic car accident on Saturday with 5 American college students from Texas heading to Frontier Ranch to work at camp. One girl - Anna, who was Gina Ramey's campaigner girl from Tyler - died at the scene. Another boy, Blake - the son of Young [...]
Celebrate A Sacred Cycle Of Seasons
Good morning... Right now, I sense God’s Spirit whispering: “Celebrate all of life’s seasons with Me.” Letting go of our own efforts to “just let go,” we begin to trust deeply God’s unsettling promise. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the [...]
True Joy And Salty Sorrow
Good morning... I encouraged myself to "just let go" of all the old stuff, to wipe the slate clean, to let bygones be gone. But as my pen prayed on the journal page, I unearthed a long litany of leftovers. I expressed everything completely, spoke my truth honestly. Having written out the last morsel in me, I felt at peace. Then I read Henri Nouwen's daily meditation. Somehow his words felt like an "Amen." ****** [...]
A Mother Reborn
Good morning... I had journaled profusely since I was twenty-five years old, but I had never shared my writing with others until after our uprooting move in 2003. Being hired at Northside Church in the spring of 2006, for ten straight years I wrote a new manuscript, we self-published a book, and each Mother's Day morning we handed out a complimentary devotional book to women in our community. I was reminded of this blessed [...]
My Fear Of Settling
Good Morning... Strangely, as I have felt more settled in the life of God’s choosing, I have also felt more frightened. I am afraid that the sacred cycle of life will force me again to forfeit the abundance I currently enjoy. A death to one dear to me. A dreaded diagnosis. Another descent into the darkness of depression. Honestly, as my life in Atlanta blossoms and flourishes, so does my fear of being reduced [...]
A Healing Release
Good morning... "I'm LOVING your posts on tears," wrote one subscriber. "The psalm verse from yesterday's message has been a favorite. I clung to it through my divorce tears." Her written words continued. "Fun fact: tears caused by pain, when tested, are full of stress hormones; tears when cutting an onion are not. Tears are physically helpful in pain relief. May we all let them flow as God knows they heal us." Beloved author [...]
God Grows God’s Gifts
Good morning... Our family’s life-changing move from PA to GA happened fifteen years ago next month. Over those extended years the seedling of my true self has settled into this southern soil, growing roots, sprouting more, spreading seeds. But I will never forget the beginning stages of my journey toward wholeness. When my dream-life was first uprooted, the seed of my soul was pushed unground into the dry darkness of depression. For nearly two [...]
My Friend Was Right
Good morning... Over the phone, my faraway friend saw into my seasoned soul, reflecting back my deepest truths (see yesterday's post Our Community of Trees). I am settling into a place I never wanted to be planted. God is growing in me a gift, the gift of expressing the invisible things none of fully understand. My trust is growing stronger than my fears, and this internal shift sends healing properties out to everyone nearby. I [...]
Our Community Of Trees
Good morning... "I learned the coolest thing about trees," a friend from afar said over the phone. My ears perked up and my curiosity sparked. So, I got out a pen to amplify her insights, recording her thoughts in my royal blue journal, a journal which just happened to be named "Heart of the Tree Journal." This is roughly what I learned. Trees communicate with each other through their root systems. When one tree is [...]