Stay Quietly In Your Own Room
Good morning... "I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own room," astutely observed Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal in the 1600's. Oddly, staying quietly in my own room was always my favorite form of discipline as a child. When I was reeling and wound tight, emotionally overwhelmed and lashing out, I secretly loved to hear these four words, "Go [...]
Learning A New Language
Good morning... In college, I was a horrible french student. I had struggled through a few junior high french classes earlier in my life, but when I attended a small liberal arts college, I was forced to complete a foreign language requirement. I had no real interest in french and figured I would never really use the skill in my every day life, so I just skimmed across the surface of the language to get [...]
A Fresh Word Each Day
Good morning... We have many newcomers to our "sue2you" community, and it dawns on me that some of you do not know how these messages come about and why they are posted at random hours of the day and night. 12:29 am and 1:01 am. 2:29 am, 2:59 am, and 5:21 am. 7:05 am, 7:21 am, and 8:11 am. These are the hours my posts appeared over the past ten days. There was even [...]
Dinner In The Dark
Good morning... Saturday night's gathering had been planned for a while. One friend invited me and another friend to sleepover as the final hurrah of my birthday season. When is the last time you had a pajama party with some of your best buddies? We arrived a little after 5:00 pm and started our all-nighter with some hors d'oevres, water, and wine. We laughed about middle school slumber parties, Ouija boards, "light as a [...]
His First Birthday In Heaven
Good morning... Her son would have celebrated his seventeenth birthday this week, if he had not gone to heaven last month. With her permission, I am posting a string of personal emails I have shared with a very special, grieving mom, a mom I had not known before this tragedy. Thursday, 4.28.19, would have been his birthday and that morning I sent her my post, "The extraordinary gift of ordinary days." Along with my [...]
Facing Difficult People And Situations
Good morning... One late afternoon, I came home from work to find a question emailed to me by a friend. She wrote, "This is the practice I find most difficult: trying to be a good 'christian' with people who drain you. I'm not talking about people who are sick or going through something difficult. It's people who thrive on drama or negativity and they suck you into their vortex.... I'd love to hear your [...]
Life’s Highlights And Bloopers
Good morning... Three thoughts pop to mind as I re-watch the moving video I shared with you yesterday (if you missed it, please enjoy it today at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=olSyCLJU3O0). First, "What will my kids remember from their childhood years?" Will they recall my best parenting moments, my worst parenting moments, or some conglomerate of the two? Often times, photographs help to skew memories in the positive direction since no one snaps a picture when we [...]
The Gift Of Ordinary Days
Good morning... Each year for the past four years I have hosted a Bible study on Wednesday afternoons for the "moms of high school seniors" from my kids' school. Next week, I meet with a group of three moms who want to begin the special tradition at a neighboring school, and I have been asked to mentor another woman as she begins a "moms of seniors" study at her own son's school. I love [...]
Through Pain To Peace
Good morning... My post from 4.25.16, "Run toward the roar," has created a lot of great dialogue, face to face and through email exchanges. One long time friend, who has lived through an immensely painful loss, wrote: "Hey Sue. Wow, this one is powerful and hits me deeply. As I think about it I don't see myself having run towards the roar when bad things have happened in my life. It feels more like [...]
Sharing God’s Spirit
Good morning... Sometimes, someone shares something to give us a spiritual boost when our own energy is waning. Unexpectedly, we receive a gift we did not ask for, a gift only God knew we needed so desperately. From an angel wearing skin, we receive a breath of fresh air and our faith is renewed, our trust in God is once again galvanized, and our single focus upon the Giver of life is secured, emboldened. [...]
Run Toward The Roar
Good morning.. A friend in my Tuesday group sent me a very challenging article, an article passed on to her by a friend, an article by Davey Blackburn from 4.18.16 entitled "Running Toward the Roar." Some of the most profound comments, I will share here, with a link to the entire article below. "Perhaps one of the most impactful books I’ve read in this season is Levi Lusko's Through the Eyes of a Lion. [...]
Feathers Of Faith
Good morning... Visiting my parents in Ohio, I enjoyed their pets. They have well stocked bird feeders outside their large front window and another feeder at the back of their home, a wall of three picture windows overlooking the park. Their pets are the various species of birds, coming and going all day, as well as the chipmunks and the squirrels who enjoy the fallen seed (acrobatic squirrels are a great source of laughter, [...]