Joy And Pain Tangle
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I return a loving text to a dear, dear friend who feels absolutely heartbroken and helpless. Next, I open an email from another grieving friend. Her words express divine wisdom we all so desperately crave. "This just came to me," she writes, "from author Ross Gay." What happens if joy is not separate from pain? What if joy and pain are fundamentally tangled up [...]
Wipe My Windshield
Good morning... Discussing our constant need for prayer, one friend paraphrased a Max Lucado quote like this: "Anxieties, fears and regrets land on our windshield but then comes the wiper of prayer that causes them to depart." Later, another friend shared with us the exact quote in its entirety. ****** Let God In by Max Lucado When we invite God into our world, he walks in. He brings a host of gifts: joy, [...]
Always On Standby
Good morning... Our weekly Thursday class decided to meet monthly in this summer season. As we gathered last week, one of the women shared a page from a devotional book she loves. She read the following words to us aloud, before we unpacked our thoughts as a group. The word "standby" stood out to us. Exploring the word now, I deepen into its meaning. "A standby [...]
Pain Is Leftover Love
Good morning... As my friend has been processing her extraordinary grief, she texted a sentence that touched my heart. "I just saw a quote," she wrote. "The pain is the leftover love you don't get to give." Fires, floods, feuds. Loss, lethargy, loneliness. Death, disasters, depression. Cancer, callousness, calamity. Betrayals, breakups, bombings. Accidents, addictions, Alzheimers. There are so many experiences in life that can severe our dreams. We all plan on enjoying a [...]
Dawning In The Dark
Good morning... “When morning gilds the skies…” This familiar hymn, singing in my head, stirs me from my sleep. Instinctively, I look out the open window and shoot one photo through the screen. The word gild comes alive as the dark early morning sky is embellished with golden light from the moon and the stars. Then, I tiptoe down the carpeted stairs of the log cabin where my 94 year old mother-in-law lives. [...]
Audrey’s Race Is Won
Good morning... Another loyal friend, a daily blog reader and longtime Northside Church member, wrote to me recently, sharing the photo above, offering a tribute to Audrey DeShetler who went to heaven in June. ****** Audrey's Race Is Won by Vilda Brennan About 10 years ago, I took a course called Soul Collage. I loved the concept of letting your innermost parts speak to you as you cut images and applied them to [...]
A Mass For Audrey
Good morning... On Saturday, July 5th, out of the blue, I received this special card in honor of Audrey DeShetler. Audrey went to heaven on Sunday, June 8th, ten hours before her twentieth birthday. Not being catholic, I was not sure what it meant to hold a Mass for a loved one who has passed. So I wrote to Betsie, a loyal, longtime member of our written word community, and we shared this [...]
PAWkids Wins!
Good morning... Thanks to all of you who have voted daily since August 1st to support the important work of PAWkids in our Atlanta community. Yesterday, I received this awesome announcement. How exciting! In our world, there seems to be a growing gap between "the haves", "the have nots" and "the have yachts". Our living faith steps into this landscape, spurring us to find creative ways [...]
I Have Missed You
Good morning... The last time I wrote to you, I had been Out Of Cell Service for three full days, savoring the rustic beauty of Siempre Verde, Ecuador, a magical place where The Lovett School maintains an amazingly lush property on a remote mountain in the cloud forest. Traveling to the second half of our trip with a group of sixteen from the Atlanta area, I thought I would be back in contact [...]
Out Of Cell Service
Good morning... I have been delightfully out of cell service for 90 percent of the past three days. Traveling with my husband on his new venture with the Lovett School, we have loved bonding with our group of sixteen, mostly strangers who are becoming fast friends. Steve is creating of an adult trip program, and I get to join in on some of his adventures. Getting away to Siempre Verde, Ecuador to Lovett's [...]
Indirectly Affected
Good morning... I stepped out of our front door and noticed the rising sun casting indirect light on a brand new summer day. Stepping down slowly, I moved in awe toward the warm Source of all light. Then I looked up and saw a beautiful spider web, set all aglow. The indirect light reminded me of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quote [...]
We’re Bonded Forever
Good morning... "Thinking about you and holding you and Tate in my heart," wrote my friend on one random morning. "I bet she is playing with my Watson. I love you." What a sweet reminder. We talk about our loved ones in heaven all the time. And they somehow sense our constant connection. This reminder helps me with missing Tate, with missing Audrey, with missing all my loved ones who have gone before. [...]