Good morning... I love the Bible story "On the Road to Emmaus", found in Luke 24:13-35. Two people are walking and talking about Jesus being unjustly accused and brutally crucified, taking down into the grave their high expectations, "We had hoped that he would be the one to set Israel free! But it has already been three days since all this happened," (v. 21, CEV). The resurrected Jesus comes along side them, walking and [...]

Good morning... We all have flaws and we all try to hide them. We all make make mistakes and we all hate the consequences. We all self-protect, layer upon layer, and soon our false self takes on a life of her own. Our outsides look one way. Think bullying and boisterous. Think silent and scared. Think narcissistic and know-it-all. Yet on the inside we are all the same, stamped with the LORD's image, uniquely [...]

Good morning... I just learned that "confession" in Greek, exomologeo, means "to agree with someone," and the word "confess" can be translated "praise" or "thank you." I am struggling to wrap my brain around these life-changing insights. I usually think of confession as something we do privately with God, purposefully hidden away from the ear shot of others, expressing our scared, scarred souls alone with our LORD. Usually a sinful confession is bruised with [...]

Good morning... First thing each morning, I lift our fluffy, seven pound dog from the bed. I cuddle her. I snuggle her. I cradle her in my arms. Seven pounds was the average birth weight of our four children, so my body starts the day silently remembering the cuddling, the snuggling, the cradling of beloved days gone by. Our dog Gracie is a lot like an infant. She only makes noise when she has [...]

Good morning... She said, "Going into our pain is the only way out of our pain." Think about it. Pain killers. Sleeping pills. Drowning our sorrows with more stuff, more alcohol, more and more distractions. Our world shouts, "Avoid pain at all cost." Our Spirit whispers, "What is the long term cost of avoidance?" Pain holds our power. Pain holds our potential. Pain holds our healing in the palm of her hand. Going into [...]

Good morning... She said, "Focus inside to change the world." Pondering these six words, I embrace the paradox. True love inside overflows love for others. Peace deep within spreads peace all around. Living with integrity the conflicts in our self, we live with integrity the conflicts in our world. Philippians 4:8 (AMP) is where we begin: Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by [...]

Good morning.... This week, the Georgia air has been heavy and conflict-ridden. After a five-hour delay pending final appeals to spare her life, Georgia death row inmate Kelly Gissendaner was executed early Wednesday morning for her role in the killing of her husband 18 years ago. She was the first female executed in the state of Georgia since 1945. Should she have been killed by lethal injection or should she have lived out her [...]

Good morning... Having launched our new "sue2you" blog and website on September 1st, one month in there are 410 people who have taken the time to type their email and their name into the spaces provided to the right of my blog. What fun it is to watch the number of subscribers inch up gradually. One by one. Day by day. Recently, one subscriber wrote to me personally about the way she sees "sue2you" [...]

Good morning... Following a dry streak, I love the first rainy day. When else does one get to wear a happy pink coat and fun purple Hunter boots, both joyfully treasured from a Goodwill store? The first day feels refreshing. The second day becomes a bit of a drag. Dreary does not settle in until day three or four. Disdain descends by the end of the week, when the weatherman reports, "I see no [...]

Good morning... As we gathered around our friend in the prayer chapel, we gently laid hands on her and our pastor led us in a familiar song then opened our time of collective prayer. Many faithful voices prayed blessings of hope, of healing, of whole-hearted love before our friend opened her mouth to pray. "LORD, thank You for cancer," astonished us all. She continued with words much like these: "Thank You for all of [...]

Good morning... I write short because I can not read long. If I lose my own attention after 500 words, many of you will also check out before I place my final period. If God wanted me to be a writer of brief daily devotionals, the LORD was wise to lace my brain with a short reading attention span. Too many of us view innate differences a curse, for ourselves or for our loved [...]

Good morning... Last night, I went to the theater with a friend to see the movie "War Room." I have never witnessed the transforming power of God on the big screen in such a bold, undeniable way. The life change, especially in the main male character, astounded me. I marveled at where he began, closed off and cocky, how he was led, through broken, tear-streaked surrender, and who he became, a catalyst for the [...]