Delightfully Cracked Open
Good morning... I love meeting new people in my weekly classes each semester. One special woman I met last fall sent me a beautiful blessing to begin this new year. "May you be delightfully cracked open in 2017 😉 When you start to crack open, don't waste a moment gathering your old self up into something like you knew before. Let your new self splash like sunlight into every dark place & laugh & [...]
Grace Is Not Opposed To Effort
Good morning... This time of year I absolutely love. In our Women's Ministry at Northside Church, it is our time of waiting for new rosters to form. Throughout the fall, we prayerfully consider relevant studies to offer our community. Poignant topics. Spirit-led teachers. Morning, afternoon, and evening time slots to meet a plethora of needs. We create a class line up, advertise options on our website, and wait to see who God taps on [...]
One Thing I Cling To
Good morning... The man who had everything craved even more. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" demanded the rich, young ruler. Jesus replied in the man's achievement-oriented language, rattling off the famous checklist. "You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” Impatiently interrupting our Teacher, the proud and powerful man scoffed, “All [...]
Walking Away From 2016
Good morning... A funky movie clip plays with my brain as I consider walking away from 2016. I feel like Navin (Steve Martin) walking away from Marie (Bernadette Peters) in the 1979 movie "The Jerk." "Well I'm gonna to go then! And I don't need any of this," says Navin. "I don't need this stuff, and I don't need *you*. I don't need anything. Except this." [picks up an ashtray] "And that's the only [...]
Put God First
Good morning... Clinging to our heart's desire can keep us from God's abundant life. When Paula D'Arcy lost her husband and her young daughter to the carelessness of a drunk driver, she was three months pregnant. In deep despair she was forced to give birth six months later. The one thing her heart desired most was a natural childbirth, to bring her new baby into the world in the way she dreamed. On page [...]
To Cling Is To Shrink
Good morning... God reminds me once again. The word 'cling' in Old English is 'clingan' and 'clingan' means to shrink. Those smaller gods to which we cling shrink very important parts of us. Very important parts of us atrophy when we cling to anything but God. “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from...the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me" (Exodus 20:2-3, NLT). ...Sue... [...]
Our Mob Of Idols
Good morning... My son sends me his favorite sermons sometimes. This week he sent me the link to Matt Chandler's 5.27.07 sermon from The Village Church near Dallas, Texas. I found Chandler's wisdom to be very eye-opening, quite appropriate to consider as we end one year and begin another. Chandler challenges us: "Idolatry in your heart and in my heart starts with a desire. And the desire isn’t inherently wicked or wrong. We have [...]
Communing With The Ears Of A Child
Good morning... Before lighting candles and singing "Silent Night" to end the sacred Christmas Eve service, our church family was invited to take communion. We were reminded that, at his final earthly meal, the grown up baby Jesus took bread and blessed it, broke it and said, "This is my body, broken for you. Take and eat." Likewise, he lifted the cup, blessed it, and said, "This is my blood shed for the forgiveness [...]
Serving Up Jealousy
Good morning... Yesterday as a family, we donned disposable hair nets with plastic aprons and gloves to assemble meals for the homeless through Hosea Feed the Hungry. For the first year of this annual Christmas tradition, I left feeling badly about the gift we had given. To me, the meals we served in styrofoam boxes felt unfair and inconsistent. We prepared the food as instructed, but some dinners had a mound of turkey while [...]
Bonding With Baby Jesus
Good morning... "When you arrive at the manger, where do you stand? What do you do, think, feel, and say," asks my devotional book. My imagination responds: "After asking, 'Mary, may I hold your sweet baby?' I cradle Jesus in my arms. I kiss his forehead gently. I slowly rub my cheek against his cheek then draw back to marvel at his movements, before nuzzling some more. All of me wants to melt into [...]
Still Be Still
Good morning... I wake with a Christmas song dancing in my head. "Still. Still. Still." I know this first word, but I can not come up with the next line. So, I crawl out of bed. I plug in the tree lights and silently scoop coffee before brewing a small pot. I choose my cobalt blue 'Whistler' mug (a gift from my son when he traveled to Canada), one of my favorite mugs silhouetting [...]
Slow Down Your Feet
Good morning... "Slow down your feet," the voice of a loving mom reminded her preoccupied preschooler. As the crowd rushed away from Sunday morning worship, I heard above the energized din, "Slow down your feet." "Don't run!" I have heard before. "Slow down your feet," is a new thing. This morning, I remind all of us: "Slow down your feet." Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit [...]