Darkness Can Never Extinguish
Good morning... I pre-programmed my past two posts before I went on our weekend Writers' Retreat at a friend's mountain home near Lake Rabun. As I crafted the words about trees on my street changing at different rates and the painful-looking experience of naked, barren limbs, I had no idea how real these words would become over the next few hours. Vulnerable. Unprotected. Emptied to the core. "Life has stripped me naked." Vulnerable. Unprotected. [...]
The Soul Is A Bucket
Good morning... "When we sit in silence, it’s true, we may not be doing anything. But we are un-doing so much," says blogger Emily P. Freeman. Emily continues: "The soul is made to receive. In the presence of God, we experience a right full-ness. But like a bucket left out in the yard, it will hold anything that comes along to fill it - rain, pollen, a leaf, a bug. The soul receives input [...]
Time To ROUND DOWN
Good morning... As we learned about the chaos of transition in our class last week, the letting go of what was, the discomfort of living in uncertainty, and the waiting in trust for God to rebuild a new life around us, she suddenly said, "That reminds me of when I was a kid." She went on to explain, "My brothers and I loved making sandcastles at the beach. After working together to build one [...]
Take Time To See
Good morning... Georgia O'Keefe once said astutely, "In a way, nobody sees a flower really, it is so small, we haven't time --- and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time." It takes time to see, to befriend, and to discern the voice of God. Scripture says it this way: “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence [...]
God’s Power Gushes
Good morning... Jesus says, "...The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life," says John 4:14b in the Message translation. My brain wonders, "What is an artesian spring?" Googling, I learn that "artesian" is the upward movement of water under hydrostatic pressure from beneath the earth's surface. Spring water under "artesian" pressure gushes through a crack, a fissure, an opening in the surface. Such springs flow because the [...]
Alive In Interesting Times
Good morning... "Surely the Chinese curse is upon us: 'May you live in interesting times!'" writes Margaret Silf, author of The Other Side of Chaos, one of the books we are studying in my living room this semester. "And the ideogram for crisis also comes to mind, with its combination of the symbols representing 'danger' and 'opportunity' - a combination we might see reflected all around us in our world today, to say nothing [...]
God Is Growing A Harvest
Good morning... As Hillary Clinton stood in purple at the podium giving her concession speech to our nation, she referenced a familiar Bible verse: Let us not become weary in doing good. Later scouring Scripture, I found my way to the reference and to it's biblical context. Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring [...]
God Converts Weeping Into Laughter
Good morning... I went to a movie with one of my best girlfriends this weekend. Miss You Already, starring Drew Barrymore, is very moving, raw and real. The story chronicles the journey of two lifelong friends, through flawed relationships and infertility, through cancer and childbirth, through love that hurts and love that heals. Many in the theater were quietly weeping as the experiences on screen mirrored some of our own. This is not a [...]
What Will Inspire Today?
Good morning... I prayed in bed for a long, long time before getting up to make coffee. I fell asleep last night to the din of election results, rolling in, rolling in, neck and neck. Strangely, right now I am savoring not knowing who won, sort of like when I was pregnant and did not know the answer, "Boy or girl?," until the very moment of delivery. Is our next President a boy or [...]
Election Day Peace
Good morning... "What a privilege," I thought to myself as I stood 38th in line, waiting for the polls to open. Calm was the crowd. Spouses chatted quietly. Neighbors caught up. How grateful I am for our peaceful process of electing our next President, our supporting Senators, and our community's Congressmen. No violence. No protests. No taking political matters into bloodied hands, like we often see broadcast from countries around the globe. "What a [...]
Yesterday’s Beautiful Bookends
Good morning... Driving somewhere in the middle of Alabama, I was singing songs to the company of the Christian radio station. To my amazement, the Scripture verses which had greeted me in the morning came through my car speaker to bookend my night. Before the rising of the sun, God had drawn me to this unfamiliar-to-me passage during my time of prayerful pondering. The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray [...]
Come To The Vineyard To Pray
Good morning... “None can believe how powerful prayer is and what it is able to effect but those who have learned it by experience,” commented Martin Luther. Northside Methodist Church, where I am privileged to be the Women's Ministry Director, is inviting our community to experience prayer's power during a "Prayers for Our Nation" service tonight, November 6th at 5:00 pm in the Sanctuary. We will unite together and seek God's guidance as we [...]