Good morning… Responding to my daughter's request, I went to my first hot yoga class. I set up my mat right next to hers. Lots of fit, agile bodies filed into the tiny, warm room. Their familiar comfort zone was foreign to me. As the crowded roomful began to breathe deep, we were asked to set an intention for our practice. A word. A phrase. A focus for our minds and bodies. Which two [...]

Good morning... I can promise you, 2016 is not going to be the year of my best body. The year of my best body may have occurred in 1984 when, age at twenty-one, I was trying to impress my first real boyfriend. The year of my best body may have been in 1987 when I worked extremely hard to squeeze into my wedding dress of choice. The year of my best body may have [...]

Good morning... 2015 was a hard year for many. Loved ones leaving earth for heaven. Health issues plaguing, paralyzing. Affairs, divorces, accidents altering life. Facing "firsts" is difficult, the first night alone, the first holiday without, the first anniversary pain; each "first" marks movement away from an old beloved normal. In May of 2015, Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg lost her 47 year old husband, Dave, in a heart related treadmill accident while on vacation. [...]

Good morning... I remember when my faith became more deeply my own. I was a new mom who had moved from the north down to the south, and I joined my first Bible study with other young moms. We were studying a book by a popular Christian writer, and her first teaching point was that we are children of the devil, the father of lies. Without batting an eyelash, our group leader read aloud [...]

Good morning... The trouble with troubles is that they glob together. One new hurt connects to a past hurt. One fresh insult joins forces with old ones. One fear adds into the growing sum of fears. Before we are fully aware, within us exists a hardened conglomerate of anger, pain, and anxiety. As a noun, "conglomerate" means a number of different things grouped together to form a whole while remaining distinct entities. A mixture. [...]

Good morning... We all make mistakes. Words we wish we could take back. Actions sparking pain. Poor choices carrying consequences. A thick, dark film descends and in guilt we feel separated. From God. From loved ones. From our best selves. "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you," Isaiah 44:22 (NIV). When we make a mistake, our LORD takes [...]

Good morning… Genesis 2:24-25 lays out God's blueprint for marriage. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed or embarrassed. Many newlyweds struggle to 'leave' mother and father before bonding in oneness; disconnecting from the first source of human love feels foreign and unnatural. [...]

Good morning... On most major holidays, our family serves warm meals to the homeless through "Hosea Feed the Hungry." This Christmas was no exception. After enjoying our traditional egg-sausage-cheese casserole and opening each wrapped gift under our tree, our family of six hopped in the car and drove to the World Congress Center to give a few hours of service. Donning hair nets with plastic gloves and aprons, my fourteen year old son and [...]

Good morning... This holiday season, I am praying with my whole heart for two Macon families I will never meet. One family is forced to bury their beautiful eighteen year old daughter today at 3:00 pm. The other family lives on to support their own beautiful daughter, an eighteen year old responsible for the accidental death of her best friend. On Tuesday, December 22, 2015, the OnlineAthens section of the Athens Banner-Herald reported: "A [...]

Good morning... As kids age, there are fewer surprises under the Christmas tree. Who wants to be personally responsible for choosing increasingly expensive gifts that will never be worn, never be used, never bring joy? Many times, our young adult kids do not even know what they want until they see it, until they feel it, until the clothes or the shoes or the accessories find fit on their own body. With fewer Christmas [...]

Good morning... Any words I write this morning would pale in comparison to the gift of this short video. Take a moment to marvel at God's gift. Mary, Did You Know? - Peter Hollens God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding, Job 37:5 (NIV), Sue

Good morning… I do not go to church each Christmas Eve because it is my holiday tradition. I do not drive ‘round and ‘round the parking deck searching for an open spot because I want to say “Merry Christmas” to my church friends. I do not cozy into the crowded pew because I expect to remember the minister’s message on Christmas morning. I go to the sacred service because in the darkness my candle [...]