Quiet Peaceful Comfort
Good morning... My friend and her family took their cancer-filled dog to the vet, 'putting her down' so they say. "It was peaceful and quiet," she texted soon after. "She just went to sleep. Thank you, Sue. Your comfort helped me prepare for those steps." Connecting soul to soul in the midst of our daily lives, we experience God's quiet, peaceful comfort as we prepare together for life's challenging steps. And if you offer yourself [...]
I Cried Her Tears
Good morning... A few weeks back, I woke to a painful text. "So sorry to have been so out of pocket. So very much going on. However, tonight I am sitting here with sweet Tess. Just have not been able to talk about it since hearing last week. She if full of cancer. I saw a friend who is also a cancer survivor at the farmers' market and was able to get the truth [...]
Catch and Keep
Good morning... "He looked up from his coffee, fixing me with one eye, the other squinted like Clint Eastwood. "There's somethin I heard 'bout white folks that bothers me, and it has to do with fishin." He was serious and I didn't dare laugh, but I did try to lighten the mood a bit. "I don't know if I'll be able to help you," I said, smiling. "I don't even own a tackle box." [...]
Extend Your Soul
Good morning... "If you extend your soul to the hungry," she said, "and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will dawn in the darkness and your darkness shall be as the noonday." From Colorado to Atlanta, the slow, soothing voice of my spiritual direction supervisor reached me through the phone, giving me the gift of Isaiah 58:10 (NKJV). God's living Word washed over me, freeing me forward, casting my daily vision. Extend your soul [...]
God’s Contagious Power
Good morning... The phone rang around 5:20 am, "Mom, I think you should go back to sharing your complete blog in your morning email rather than forcing us to click 'Read more' to receive the entire message." Our oldest son called to encourage me from Australia, where he is spending his year ministering to college students. With a 14 hour time difference, morning here meant nighttime there, the Holy Spirit bridged the gap with [...]
Isn’t Aging Glorious
Good morning... The whole room pulled off a great surprise as we celebrated a milestone birthday with our friend. Nearing the meal's end, she spoke words of raw, real thanks and owned with her eloquent voice an inspiring poem she had discovered just that day. "The second half of my life will be black to the white rind of the old and fading moon," she shared her truth with those who love her best. [...]
Treasured Testimonials
Good morning... Interactive. One of the best things about our written word ministry is her interactive nature. I prayerfully listen for God's subtle movement. I sense a fresh smidgen of Holy Spirit wisdom. With God I craft a morning message, then I press "send" to reach out to you. You read and receive at your convenience. You prayerfully ponder, putting new truth into practice, spreading God's Spirit into your corner of the world. If [...]
Accept The Anxiety
Good morning... I touched "Read more" to experience the first blog posted on my brand new site. It took me straight to a blank page bearing these words: "Oops, This Page Could Not Be Found." My soul smiled and shook her head, "Nothing new is easy." “Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be,” says Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. “Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his [...]
Why A New Website
Good morning... Words I wrote last winter, pre-programmed again in May, and re-posted again this summer, minister to me now. "The definition of holiness–in a nutshell–means being set apart to purity, to be like God,” says blogger Shana Schutte. “And the result of holiness, of God transforming us to make us more like Him, is outrageous joy, amazing peace, overflowing love—and all the other things that are embodied in our Perfect Creator. So what [...]
God Is At Work
"I trust that God is at work in me. I feel His presence. I sense God changing me, softening my heart." She continued, "But trusting that God is also at work in other people, that's my biggest challenge." By nature, we want to save and to fix, to make peace and to control. It is hard for us to "stay 100 feet back" from our loved ones, from our enemies, from our loved ones [...]
God Speaks Through Truck Signs
Sometimes we live too up-close to people. We hang on the bumper of our loved ones, directing. We hang on the bumper of our enemies, raging. Enmeshed, we try to fix, save, change each other. Tailgating, we engender co-dependency, an intensely emotional form of loving and hating. Given a slight break in life's bumper to bumper traffic, a truck with two posted signs pulls in front of me. "CAUTION: STAY 100 FEET BACK" and [...]
Lingering On The Line
Good morning... “Linger” has always been one of my favorite words. Inviting and multifaceted, to linger means to remain in a place longer than expected. To pass time, waiting, in a leisurely way. To persist, although gradually dying, ceasing, disappearing. To stroll, shuffle, stick around. To tarry, trudge, traipse. To dwell, dawdle, dillydally. Linger is slow not fast. Linger is quiet not loud. Linger is more God’s pace, less the world’s race. Through June, [...]