Tucking In Ashes
Good Morning... “The tucking in ceremony was so sad and so special,” my friend told me after a very significant family funeral. “What is a ‘tucking in’ ceremony?” I asked. She described for me her experience. After their loved one was cremated, following the funeral, the family members took turns digging a hole on a holy plot of land and, as part of a short, sacred ceremony, together they tucked her ashes back into the [...]
Embedded In God’s Word
Good morning... "A couple of years ago, I was in a small group for a year," one subscriber gave me permission to share her personal story. "At the end of our time, the leader gave everyone a Mason jar filled with business card sized pieces of paper folded in half. On each card was a different Bible verse with the person's name embedded in it. For example, in my jar one card had the [...]
No End To God Surprises
Good morning... Last night we shared cocktails with a changed man. Humbled. Engaging. Down-to-earth. He told one God-story after another, effortlessly, honestly. My favorite story includes a couple conniving Christians and a hand-me-down book in the hands of a stranger, a wife and a husband on a brand new Harley and being at the end of our human rope when God showed up big. I hope Ron Hall, co-author of Same Kind of Different As [...]
Is This God Talking To Us?
Good morning... Two days ago, the YouTube video I posted seems to have reach deep and wide. "I watched it several times and it makes me feel so peaceful," one of you told me. "I love that video about God whispering to us all the time. Thank you for sending it," another flagged me down to say. Another person commented, "That video made me alert, looking out for God's whispers all day long. And [...]
Was God In Las Vegas?
Good morning... Where was God on October 1st? Was He sleeping on the job or overpowered by His evil enemy? Did He step back for a second, letting painful pandemonium take center stage in Las Vegas? When horrible happens, how do we trust that our ever-present, all-powerful God is still intimately at work? I remember a friend answering a similar question when she gave a talk at Northside Church in the spring of 2011. [...]
Notice God’s Whisper Today
Good morning... Six months ago today, the spirit of our dear friend Julie returned to heaven from earth (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Sensing her way through the process of grief, Julie's mother recently shared with me this revealing YouTube video, a video which amplifies the whisper of God. “Speak to me, God,” we yell. “LORD, let me see you,” we beg. “God, show me a miracle,” we crave. “I need your help,” we weep and we [...]
Sense Every Step
Good morning... I pull from a cardboard box one of my nearly four hundred old journals and step onto the the elliptical machine in our basement. My top exercise of choice is walking and talking with close friends, but reading the handwriting of my past as I "elliptical" comes in a close second. "Every step of our journey is the journey," says the Zen saying on the inside diary cover from October 2005. My [...]
Why Doesn’t God Speak Like Siri?
Good morning... A few days back, my morning message was about Jesus sitting in our passenger seat patiently encouraging us, “Start the car.” Refusing to honor our request for black and white instructions printed out ahead of time, God directs us, turn by turn, with his relentlessly relational voice. A subscriber added a thought we so often feel: “I would love for God to (Garmin). Speak the directions. I cannot hear Him..... Thank you for [...]
God Weaves Our Personal Purpose
Good morning... "I liked your message," wrote my 22 year old son who is ministering to college students for a year in Australia. "The steps of discerning God's purpose/plan for our lives are challenging. I came across this study worksheet that looks into 'What is God's purpose for me?' It creates a few solid purposes that we all have as image bearers of God." I checked out the suggested worksheet and what three purposes [...]
We Fear Missing The Call of God
Good morning... "She did have one fear: missing the call of God," writes author Ron Hall of his wife Deborah. "And she felt called to work at the mission. I wish I could say I felt God had tapped me for the assignment, too, but I didn't. But I did feel called to be a good husband, so I went. The Union Gospel Mission sits just beyond the beauty of the restored section of [...]
Start The Car
Good morning... "Through you I am getting the message to come to God often," wrote one subscriber. I smile as I sense God chuckle, "I have come to you. I am already here!" It reminds me of a quote I read aloud in our Bible study this week. "The difference between the mechanical and relational approach (to prayer) could be pictured like this: Let's say you'd been taught how to get written directions from [...]
What Is My Purpose?
Good morning... "What is my purpose?" we pray to God regularly. To help us understand the LORD's answer, let me share with you a true life example appearing in my inbox yesterday. A subscriber from Florida wrote: “Again, I am drawn to correspond with you, Sue, knowing full well how many of these replies you must get per day, and not wanting to add to your "work load," I feel the need. I have [...]