Good morning... Amid the holiday hustle and bustle, I had an early breakfast with a lifelong friend. Sharing meals monthly, we talk like we are riding bikes, peddling naturally to the truth of the matter, to the core of who we are. After our time together, she sent me this story from a picture book called Zen Shorts, by Jon L. Muth. A Heavy Load Two traveling monks reached a town where there was [...]

Good morning... Christmas is just three quick days away. "How will I ever get all this done?" To discover the Bible's calm, clear answer, we are drawn back to the Mary and Martha story (Luke 10:38-42). 1) We must remember: Jesus is traveling in our neighborhood today. Let's welcome him into our home. The Lord and his disciples were traveling along and came to a village. When they got there, a woman named Martha [...]

Good morning... As we arrived at church the Sunday before Christmas, the life stage of our children was impossible to miss. Instead of tiny suit coats and smocked dresses of red and green, our young adults wore black skirts with boots, button downs with khakis. Instead of squirming through the sermon, our four growing kids were doing their best to just stay awake. Instead of rushing and arguing all the way to the church, [...]

Good morning... I just stumbled upon a resource I had never met. Through Dictionary.com, I found the "Word of the Day." What a fun thing to do, learn one new word each day. Today, my new acquaintance is "oenophile," which mean a person who enjoys wines, usually as a connoisseur. The key word in this definition is "enjoy." Wine can be enjoyed or, by it, we can be destroyed. It reminds me of that [...]

We are unconditionally loved by a God who gives us the freedom to make choices. Come close or back away? Quiet to stillness or busy into more, more, more? Listen well or refuse wise counsel? At every decision point, day after day, the LORD allows us to choose God's higher, heavenly ways of joy, love, peace or to choose the lower, human ways of anger, worry, division. Invited into intimacy, we can either listen [...]

Good morning... Were you out on your back porch last night around 9:00 pm watching for the Geminids meteor shower? The eyes of our family were searching the sky for the unusual occurrence. One of our kids asked, "What is a meteor shower?" and we all made some guesses. "Lots of shooting stars all at once," was the best answer of our bunch. Of course, I came in from the unseasonably mild, mid-December dark [...]

Good morning... "Refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies," the small plaque in the store whispered to my eyes. I wondered to myself, "Do caterpillars have the choice to settle for less than colorful wings and an ability to fly?" Of course, I meander home and google, "Can a caterpillar stay a caterpillar?" I spent hours and hours of sifting through websites chronicling the fascinating life stages of a butterfly. First, the pin [...]

Good morning... She wrote: "I so enjoy reading your blog every day. You always seem to 'hit the mark!' I miss seeing you and experiencing your Bible Study. I hope to get involved again, maybe in the Spring. One of my high school best friends had an unplanned pregnancy several years ago that resulted in a child with Down's Syndrome. Jaime is the youngest of 5... one of which is adopted from China. My [...]

Good morning... I had never read these words in the Bible until right now. "In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life," James 1:21 (MSG). What a simple, humble image of God's organic growth. When I hear the word "landscape," I initially think noun. As a noun, landscape means vista, scenery, panoramic view. Yet, in the passage above, landscape is a verb, meaning to [...]

Good morning... As I took a little time to organize my computer's desktop, I ran across this poem written by our fourteen year old son last August. At my kids' school, I have always loved the traditional eighth grade writing assignment entitled "Where I'm From." My son captured these words on his blank page. Where I'm From I am from big backyards, from trampoline jumping and knee football. I am from church every Sunday. [...]

Good morning... I pull out the package of gum from my purse, knowing that on it I jotted eight words. Being at my son's middle school wrestling tournament from 9:00 to 5:00 yesterday, I was away from my journal and away from my computer. I saw eight short words I just had to write down. The public middle school hosting the competition had very interesting signs. At each door into the cafeteria lived these [...]

Good morning... Following my post on 12.6.15, a post I renamed "Stromboli is love," many of you have asked for my Stromboli recipe. I will give it happily, with one clear warning. Bubbly cheeses and hot layers of meat wrapped in a pizza-like crust, Stromboli holds no magic. Let's be honest. We all care less about the ingredients in Stomboli and more about the secret recipe for staying bonded with our young adult children. [...]