Good morning... I chuckled at my fourteen year old's response to my morning question. "So what do you want for breakfast today?" As if it were printed plainly on a cardboard box, he said: "I'll have some 'daddy cereal.'" My growing son is a foot and a half taller than me, with a shoe size nearly surpassing his father's, and his deep voice said, "Daddy cereal?" I knew exactly what he meant. Half corn [...]

Good morning... As we all face challenges with our loved ones, we flip open our Bible to Galatians 6. In the New International Version, verse 2 says: Carry each others' burdens... but verse 5 says, ...each one should carry their own load. Don't these directives seem to contradict? Digging beneath the surface, we uncover fresh insight. "The Greek word for burden means "excess burdens," or burdens that are too heavy that they weigh us [...]

Good morning... He is lost, lonely, set out to sea on a life boat rather than the yacht he had always envisioned. Fearful, floundering, feeling like real life is just too hard to handle, my loved one is beyond the reach of my human arm's length. How it hurts to be powerless as an outdated rescuer. If I could, I might take away his struggle, but I would become the next ban aid, a [...]

Good morning... Freeing myself from the overgrowth of unimportant, I have spent the last week thinning out, pruning back, unsubscribing from the email lists of various establishments. Office Max. Home Deposit. Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Weight Watchers. Michael's Craft Store. Fantasy Football News. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Pure Barre. Dick's Sporting Goods. Blue Mountain Cards. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. To tell you the truth, I do not even know how most of these [...]

Good morning... Several years back my kids' school played their rival football team right up the street and many in our community poured into the stands. It was a hard fought battle, back and forth, back and forth. The intensity was high, the competition thrilling. I do not remember who won the game (which means we probably lost!) but I do recall the overwhelming excitement and I do remember one other thing. As this [...]

Good morning... How do you remember which is which - stationary or stationery? This thought helps my dyslexic brain: the first vowel is "a" and we first need to be stationary, not moving, fixed. We rest motionless, immobile, anchored. From this place of stillness, we pull out our stationery, our writing materials, our pen, paper, and envelope. That leads my brain to another question - is it envelope or envelop? We keep the "e" [...]

Good morning... I am taking the night time shift of prayer on the behalf of my friend undergoing surgery in the morning. With her family accompanying her to Washington D.C. to support her through this leg of her cancer journey, her daughter posted a beautiful, heartfelt list of specific requests. "Some of you have asked for specific things to meditate on and pray for during our trip, so I've got a few for you. [...]

Good morning... Simple pleasures are truly the best. The aroma and taste of my freshly brewed coffee. Breathing in the big sky on my private back porch. Following a hot bath, the tender touch of a Q-tip relieving moisture from my ears. Simple pleasures are truly the best. The challenge for all of us is slowing down enough to notice, to appreciate, to savor with all of our senses the tiny blessings sprinkled throughout [...]

Good morning... I could wake up my 14 year old son 15 minutes earlier so that he could ride to school with his 16 year old sister. It took some angry clashing to realize that she wants to arrive early and he wants to take his good ole morning time. So, instead of finding a happy middle ground, her waiting a little for him, him waking a few minutes early for her, I volunteered [...]

Good morning... When I worked as a play therapist, I had an option every day. I could drive Route 30 from my home in Gettysburg, PA, a straight, twenty minute shot to my office in New Oxford. Or I could leave my home a little bit earlier and meander for thirty minutes, twisting-and-turning through farmlands strewn with cows, barns, and horses, weaving through the countryside of nature's colors, smells, and sounds. Over time, I [...]

Good morning... One of my favorite forms of therapy is sand tray therapy, a method of self expression using a tray of sand and a shelf full of miniature items symbolizing objects or people or experiences in a person's world. The client sitting in front of me, either a child or an adult, would choose from my shelf any miniatures sparking an emotional response. A curious intrigue. A negative reaction. A positive attraction to [...]

Good morning... I will never forget a boy named Corey. Trained as a play therapist and counseling in a non-profit agency in New Oxford, PA, I first met Corey as a scared five year old who was hiding beneath the glass coffee table in our waiting room. Loved deeply by his mom and abused harshly by his dad, Corey had a lot of healing to do. Corey and I met together most weeks for [...]