We Are Martha-Mary
Good morning... Last week at our final Monthly Listening Group of the semester, we read aloud the Martha and Mary story (Luke 10:38-42). Since Wednesday morning, the story has continued to percolate in me. The first time through the sacred reading, we looked at the story through the eyes of Martha. As I continue to personalize her experience, I am transformed. At first I, Martha, feel honored to open my home to Jesus, but [...]
Comfort Clothes
Good morning... Pondering yesterday's post it dawns on me: "I not only enjoy my back door people, I simply adore my comfort clothes." Long kept clothes feel like favorite friends, soft and cozy, well-worn, trusted. A beloved cubby in my closet hosts a stash of baggy pants, outdated sweaters, and anything velour. Do you have a similar stash? We all love our comfort clothes. Beyond their safe softness, special memories have been woven into [...]
Back Door People
Good morning... "You are definitely a back door person," he said as I left the party last night. "Most everyone else came through the front door, but not you, you are a back door person. You should write a blog about that." I went out the door and down the back stairs, jumped in my car and drove straight home. Hopping on my computer, I now write my blog 'about that.' We all need [...]
Healing’s Hub Is Our Tub?
Good morning... I wake with a weird sentence saturating my brain. "Our tub is the epicenter of our healing." I told you. Weird. I am compelled to follow this 'epicenter' inkling. I discover, in greek, the root word means 'on the center.' The true center of movement, from which shock waves radiate. The command post or control center. The hub or heart, the hotbed or headquarters. Why would our bath tub be the 'epicenter' [...]
Calming The Chaos
Good morning... I wake today feeling discombobulated. I slept until nearly 6:00 am so this post may not make our shared-coffee ritual. I just woke from a dream I wish I could unpack immediately. Rain again means dog paws have left dirty patterns on our wood floor, ugh. I must tidy up before the cleaners arrive. I fear yesterday's purchase is simply 'not right'. How will we pay the bills of this season? I [...]
A Simple Invitation
Good morning... A friend shared with me Richard Rohr's daily devotional from 12.1.16. How beautifully these threads of wisdom weave into God's tapestry blanketing us. Rohr writes: "At the more mature stages of life...the painful and the formerly excluded parts gradually belong to a slowly growing and unified field. This shows itself as a foundational compassion, especially toward all things different and those many people who 'never had a chance.' If you have forgiven [...]
A Dying Season
Good morning... Okay. So God did it again. Surround-sound is the Spirit's specialty. At 2:59 am, I posted yesterday's message highlighting the various seasons of life found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Then at 5:04 am, Henri Nouwen's 12.3.16 meditation arrived in my computer's inbox. Nouwen's words continue the Spirit's revelation: "There comes a time in all our lives when we must prepare for death. When we become old, get seriously ill, or are in great [...]
Not Yet
Good morning... After a meaningful walk-and-talk with a longtime friend, God's truth became clear. I need to say "no" to an awesome opportunity, an opportunity to which I would love to say "yes". With her family just a bit ahead of ours on life's journey, my wise friend simply said, "Remember, you have another season after this one." Pondering her perspective, I sensed God's Spirit nod in agreement. "Please do not rush past the [...]
Crazy Day. Silent Night
Good morning... The timing was symbolically perfect. Wednesday, November 30th: Eerie skies. Blustery winds. Atlanta's tornado warnings uprooted 'normal'. Thursday, December 1st: As wild weather died down, the Christmas season sped up. Parties and performances. Shopping and shipping. Friends, family, favorite foods. More. More. More. Autumn's 'normal' uprooted. As darkness descended on a crazy day, I drove into the whirlwind of downtown traffic to experience a Service of Lessons and Carols, performed by the [...]
Missing A Toddler Shoe
Good morning... Over Thanksgiving weekend, I took a private walk to the nearby horse farm with our puppy of eight months. As Tate and I circled around the familiar path, I came upon a woman sitting on a rock overlooking the river. As I said, "Hello," she looked up and I saw the tearful eyes of a friend I have not seen in a while. "How are you doing today?" I wondered out loud. [...]
Spend Everything
Good morning... God's wisdom echoes. “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it [...]
Give Your Life Away
Good morning... Donning my name and address, a padded, manila envelop arrived at my doorstep. Doesn't everyone love an unexpected gift? I took time to carefully open the seal, and my heart smiled big as I pulled from the protective package my personal copy of The Hidden Life Awakened, a freshly reprinted, expanded version of one of my all time favorite books. In this new addition, authors Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp widen [...]