God’s Magnetic Pull Forward
Good Morning... His emaciated body was loudly struggling for each breath. As I curled up beside him in bed, I rested my hand on his boney back and whispered in his ear, "You're doing a great job getting yourself to heaven. You're almost there. In just a little while, you'll be welcomed home." The next day he passed over to paradise. Pain-free. Pampered. Palpably present with God. He will wipe all tears from their [...]
God Comforts Us To Comfort Others
Good morning... After reading yesterday's post, One Sacred Moment, our friend Cathy Smith described to me a beautiful experience. Her daughter, Abby, journeyed with cancer for five years before going to heaven at age seven. With Cathy's permission, I share with you her story. ****** When we were on Abby's Make a Wish trip after she had first relapsed in September 2008, I met a mother in the Lego Store at Downtown Disney. She [...]
One Sacred Moment
Good morning... So many of us have seen and loved the movie Same Kind of Different As Me, yet there is one sacred moment I miss from the book that did not appear in the Hollywood version. “Early in the morning, the doorbell rang,” writes Ron Hall on page 182. “When I opened the door, I saw Denver standing there, ragged, looking like a vagrant who had not slept. But his eyes were different [...]
When In Doubt, Wait
Good Morning... Four words will always stay with me from the book I am teaching on Mondays and Fridays in our modest living room. "When in doubt, wait," Jan Johnson writes in When the Soul Listens. Deciding this, that, or the other. When in doubt, wait. Compelled to vent anger yet trying to walk in love. When in doubt, wait. If tragedy strikes and the next step is unclear. When in doubt, wait. Marriage. [...]
Be Like A Tulip
Good morning... "In all of creation, identity is a challenge only for humans," writes David Benner in The Gift of Being Yourself. "A tulip knows exactly what it is. It is never tempted by false ways of being. Nor does it face complicated decisions in the process of becoming. So it is with dogs, rocks, trees, stars, amoebas, electrons and all other things. All give glory to God by being exactly what they are. [...]
Wear Your Colorful Pants
Good Morning... A generous friend gave me tickets to see the musical version of The Color Purple at the Fox Theatre. For years and years, the main character, Celie, languished under the silencing power of incest, emotional and physical abuse, and the debilitating pain of being labeled "ugly." Reaching her breaking point in the second half of the play, Celie sings out the anguish of feeling God's complete absence. Genuinely loving Celie's soul, her [...]
At The End Of Us, God Is
Good morning... "God is the constant I AM and we are frail, fickle human beings. So we do not always speak the same language," I continued to wrestle in my journal on June 10, 2004. God said to Moses: "I am the eternal God...whose name is “I AM"... The footnote for this passage, Exodus 3:14 (CEV), reads: “I AM” may mean “I am the one who is” or “I will be what I will be” or “I am [...]
Is My Faith Hogwash?
Good Morning... In times of crisis, tragedy, and transition, old faith pillars are tested. As I searched for my lost, hurting soul in 2004, I wrote these words on my June 10th journal page. "The core of my faith is this: God wants a relationship with each one of us. As we surrender our lives to Christ, God fills us with the Holy Spirit and empowers us to reach out to others. Through relationship with [...]
When Our Dream Life Ends
Good morning... "My dream life ended a year ago today," admits my old journal from 6.10.04. "I have been empty ever since. I've read and said, "The Kingdom of God is within me." I've read and said, "The Holy Spirit lives in my heart." I've read and said, "Faith holds experiential water." But right now I'm leaking all over. Tears drench my pillow. And God is playing hide-and-seek with me. He hides. I seek. It's been way too long [...]
One Final Post
Good morning... A friend to many of us, Cathy Smith, wrote this week her final post chronicling the precious life of her daughter Abby who went to heaven at age seven. ****** Dear Faithful Friends and Prayer Warriors: This will be the FINAL POST on Abby’s Care Page site due to the fact that Care Pages is shutting down their entire site on October 31st. I never thought that the site would be closed down, [...]
God, Make A Fresh Start In Me
Good Morning... One line lingers from yesterday's post: God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life (Psalm 51:10, MSG). Chaos. During times of loss, grief, transition, we know the experience and we hate the word. Her synonyms often grow like unwanted weeds. Disrupted disarray. Uprooted upheaval. Tumultuous turmoil. A muddled mess of maybes. I find it encouraging that our universe was birthed through chaos. In the beginning God created the heavens and [...]
God’s Spirit Unleashes Playful Power
Good morning... When fully experienced, Scripture can be playfully powerful. This morning, we will soak in the wisdom of Psalm 51:12-15 (MSG). While we slowly read aloud each animated analogy, let's pause, pray, and ponder. Tickling our thoughts, stirring our feelings, releasing our imagination, might the Spirit yearn to softly saturate all of our many layers? Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. [...]